The Dragon Rider Chronicles - Into Another Realm
by The Love of Dragons
Summary: What if you woke up in your favorite book series? Where does reality stop and a living book begin? Join the start of an incredible journey from Narnia, to the Avengers in New York, and eventually Middle Earth. But let's start in Narnia, where there's so more than Lewis ever mentioned. The implications are incredible. Son Of Dragons Trilogy Book 1
1. Proluge

The Dragon Rider Chronicles – Into Another Realm

(Son Of Dragons Trilogy – Book One)

Prologue

The world knows me as multiple things. An Avenger, leader of the Firebreathers, and the human-dragon hybrid who is known simply as the Iron-Dragon. I have had many adventures and seen more gruesome sights than I care to admit. The one question I get over and over is simply how. _How_ can I manage to make it through the insanity of everything I've seen and kept a part of myself. _How_ can I, at the flick of a mental switch, turn into an absolutely terrifying force for stopping the bad guys. This – memoir of sorts – is my attempt to answer that. To understand the 'how', you have to know how I started on this path in the beginning. There's one funny thing about that though.

The beginning of this path, what started me on the journey to where I am, isn't even on Earth. It isn't even in this dimension for that matter.

The beginning of my path started in Narnia. Yes, it's real and yes, I've been there. This is the beginning of my story, this is how I became who I am.


	2. A Campfire, A Scare, and A Story

Chapter 1

The Missouri night was crisp and clear, I could hear the birds and crickets outside. It had been a great camping trip so far, two good friends of mine allowing the church's youth group to use it for an overnight camping trip. One thing was keeping me from getting to sleep though, and it was the unfortunate fact that my bladder had decided to issue the 'call of nature' as it were.

After managing to extricate myself from the tent by clamering over everyone, I turned toward the treeline and started walking the short distance. The night was cold, a shiver rippeling across my skin along with a tingle of static electricity. After appealing nature's call, I looked up and saw that the campfire had been restarted. "Well, that's weird," I thought to myself. Michal or Bret must have restarted the campfire for some reason. I couldn't have been gone _that_ long. Nervousness started seeping in and I decided to hurry back and see what was up. Hopefully, I wasn't the cause of it. Hopefully.

As I got closer, I could see the outline of two large objects highlighted by the campfire light. At this point I was starting to get really confused. For a minute, I thought one of the ranch horses had found a way to open the gate and followed us to camp. That was impossible of course, since, number one, the corrals were on the other side of the fence line, and number two, the gates were barbed wire. Of course, I wasn't thinking that though, since it was o-dark thirty. I kept going.

…

"Well Jacob, you seem to have a way with animals, maybe they missed you," I muttered under my breath as I kept watching. If I had my head on straight, I would have remembered the gates were barbed wire. The other thing I should have asked myself is how someone managed to sneak out of the tent and start a fire without making a sound.

None of these thoughts crossed my mind, and as I started to hear voices as I crept closer. I could hear words, but I couldn't understand anything. I knew one thing though; those people were **NOT** anyone I knew from church. **SNAP!**

My heart leapt into my throat and my stomach took a plunge to the center of the earth. I froze as the twig broke under my foot. Something was left in my head because I had enough sense to drop to my belly and stay quiet. If it wasn't for that darn twig, I might have managed to get away.

Luck just wasn't going my way tonight. Three agonizing minutes later, the voices picked up again. This time I could hear them. One of the voices was sweet and clear, like a quiet babbling brook. Whoever it was had obviously been raised in the upper crust of society. The other one, when it spoke, sounded like a combination of an Alabama crawfish farmer and an English schoolboy.

There was a scraping sound and a light grunt as a large shape rose off the ground. I could see from low glow of the fire that it was a horse. My brain was still in shock mode, with the logical half of it screaming to find cover before I was discovered.

Like a train logic barreled through the freeze and I realized that they had heard me. It was either fight or flight, and I sure as heck wasn't going to fight. Get out, now.

Nervous.

Run.

Flee.

Scram.

I was already nervous, but now my palms were starting to sweat. All I could think about was getting out of there, fast.

I dropped, managing to turn my body around and start scrambling out.

The only thing rushing through my head was stealth. Don't get caught, don't get caught, don't get caught…

I thought I was sneaking. The panicked had deluded my perception and I was as loud as rustling leaves. For what seemed like eons I crawled, eventually getting my feet under me as I started going from a crawl to a run. But no, my lack of stealth skill picked that minute to rear its ugly head.

The minute I got to my feet, a huge warhorse reared up in front of me. I turned white as a sheet and my heart leapt into my throat when I saw him coming down at me. The only thing that ran through my mind was fear. If it wasn't for those hooves coming toward me, I would have frozen on the spot. Fortunately, I started backpedaling rather rapidly.

And then the twig's brother had its revenge. My foot caught on a root, and I fell straight onto my back. Of course, in my panic, I yelped and waved my arms wildly. This only brought me over faster and everything went back when my head slammed into the ground.

When my eyes finally opened, I just laid there dazed for a minute. That had to have been it. I mean, I had a dream about flying the iron Man armor once. I could smell hear the roar of the thrusters. So, this had to be a dream. Anything else and I wouldn't be able to process it. All I wanted was to wake up to a breakfast of bacon and hot French Toast.

… **...**

My eyelids slowly opened to the view of Bree standing over me. For half a second, everything was back to normal and I thought a horse had made its way into the tent. Bree stunned me back into reality. "Hwin, Aravis, the lad is awake. From the make of his strange clothes he is certainly a foreigner. Come over and see." While Bree was talking, my brain was busy trying to comprehend the fact that a horse had just spoken English. The next thing I did was completely predictable. I started screaming my head off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm! HELP! Why is a horse talking! Horses shouldn't be talking, it's impossible!"

I started to scramble backwards before I rubbed up against a log and then a wave of dizziness slammed into we like a squall. "Oh, bloody heck, I feel like there's an angry bull in my head."

"Calm down lad, we're not going to hurt you. If anything, we want to help you." Replied Bree. Bree nudged me with his.

I heard a snort and the boy spoke up.

"He may be a warhorse and everything, but he can be soft as a kitten."

I jerked my head to the right and stared at the boy. I asked the kid, "Who the heck are you?"

The kid's grin was one of the cheekiest I've ever seen.

He looked at me and replied; "My name's Shasta, what's yours?"

I looked at him for a second before replying. "Umm, Jacob. The name is Jacob. Look, I have no idea how I got here or where I am. I just want to find out how to get home."

A feminine voice, sounding timid and almost childlike, spoke up. "I fear I do not know of this land called America. Considering what we're running from, the only ones that would now such things are the reclusive mages in Archenland and Narnia. The hike is long though, and we must cross through Tashbaan yet." "Hwin, don't give away our plan, we don't know if we can trust him!"

The owner of the voice was the young woman I had heard earlier. The voice was dotted with a thick accent, African with a hint of Moracin in it.

I let out a muttering sigh underneath my breath. "Ok, look," I spoke up. "You don't recognize where I'm from and I don't recognize where you're from. I will admit it was suspicious how I sneaked up on you. I am so sorry for that, more than you'll ever know. But maybe if we sit down and talk we can straighten this out."

Bree looked at me for a moment. He seemed to give a nod, and if it was possible, what looked like a coy smile. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I say we should listen to him." "I agree with Bree," replied Hwin. I detected some warmth and a little less hesitation. I think she was warming up to me.

We all settled into the campfire. Bree and Hwin bedded down next to each other. I sat across from them with Aravis and on my left and Shasta on my right. Shasta grunted as he got up and lobbed another log on the fire. I shrunk back somewhat from the burst of embers. My mouth was watering, and I had to swallow and clear my throat before I could go on.

…

"Alright, there's not much to say. You already know where I'm from. I don't really know how to put it. Some friends and I were on a camping trip when I had to get up in the middle of the night. In retrospect, the campfire should have been a red flag. Obviously, I wasn't thinking straight."

Shasta put on that cheeky grin and chuckled lightly. "Let me guess, you snapped a twig at that point and, well, we know the rest."

I rolled my eye without thinking and smirked at him. "Ha-ha, very funny Shasta, you get the big red cupid doll. Yeah, pretty much," I replied.

Bree spoke up next. "Well, my boy, it is obvious from your tale you are indeed no threat. It wouldn't be proper for you to try and find Narnia on your own. No, no, no, not at all. You will accompany us. Besides, you're much more likely to get through if you stick with us. Now Aravis, we were about to hear your tale when this lad landed in our midst. Please, continue your tale."

Shasta butted in. "Hold the cart a minute, though. What's a 'big red cupid doll?'"

Aravis got the slightest of smirks on her face. "Well, Shasta, if you ask him nicely instead of butting in, he might explain it. Now then Bree, shouldn't we start with your and Shasta's journey so far."

Bree shook his mane out as he replied. "Broo-hinny-hoo-ha. I hadn't thought of that. Yes, we ought. Very well then, if all are ready, I will begin."

I put my hands up in the surrender gesture and shrugged "Hey man, I wouldn't even dream of stopping you." My face took on a smirk and a lopsided grin. I hadn't even started to process all the yet. Matter of fact, I was still in the denial phase and listening to everyone else's story would give me an escape. I didn't have to confront the terrifying reality of what had just happened.

For the next half hour, Shasta told how he had been found as a baby, saved by Arsheesh the fisherman and raised by him. We talked about what America was like, the general geography of Narnia, Calormene, The Northern wasteland, Archenland, and the Lone Islands.

When they were about to recount their story, Shasta spoke up. "Shouldn't we hear Arvis's story. After all, they might send someone from her household after us and then they could trick us before we would know what happened."

Bree had a looked eminently pleased, like a tutor who had just been outsmarted by his pupil. His voice was pouring forth with an iron tone of confidence. "That is a very logical idea, Shasta. Perhaps we should. What does our new acquaintance think?"

My daydream of listening to Bree and Shasta's story was slammed up against a brick wall as I was yanked back into reality. I glanced around rapidly for a minute. "Ah, err, wait what?"

Hwin snorted a horse laugh. "My dear boy, you look about as lost as a lovestruck wood faun."

Ok, that one was just embarrassing. I looked around for a minute and said; "I agree with Bree. After all, from what you and Shasta have told me, you two are practically fugitives. Your only hope is to make it to Narnia. I have to make it because it's the only way I'm getting home. Assuming someone does come after us, they undoubtedly have friends in Tashbaan."

Bree furrowed his brow for a moment before replying; "Hmmm. I see what you mean. Send someone ahead of us and make it nearly impossible to get through."

"Well, we have a plan," Shasta said with a laugh. And with that, we all settled in to hear Arvis's story.

…

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	3. Flight from Tashbaan

**Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles we saw how Jacob ended up in Narnia and met up with Shasta, Aravis, Hwin, and Bree. After hearing how Shasta and Bree had escaped, everyone settled down to hear Arvis's escape.**

Chapter 2

Aravis sat down cross-legged on the ground and began with a dramatic voice and hand gestures to embellish the tale. Her hands seemed to dance as they brought the story to life through gestures and positioning.

"My name," Aravis began at once, "is Aravis Tarkheena, and I am the only daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan, the son of Rishti Tarkaan, the son of Ilsombreh Tisroc, the son of, the son of Arbeed Tisroc who was descended in a right line from the great god Tash. My father is the Lord of the province Calavar and is one who has the right of standing on his feet in his shoes before the face of the Tisroc himself (May he live forever). My mother (on whom be the peace of the gods) and my father has married another wife. One of my brothers has fallen in battle against the rebels in the far west and the other is a child. Now it came to pass that my father's wife, my stepmother, hated me, and the sun appeared dark in her eyes as long as I lived in my father's house. And so she persuaded my father to promise me in marriage to Ahoshta Tarkaan. Now this Ahoshta is one of base birth, though in these latter years, he has won the favor of the Tisroc (may he live forever) by flattery and evil council, and is now made a Tarkaan and the lord of many cities and is likely to be chosen as the Grand Vizier when the Grand Vizier dies. Moreover, he is at least sixty years old and has a hump on his back and his face resembles that of an ape. Nevertheless, my father, because of the wealth and power of this Ahoshta, and being persuaded by his wife, sent messengers offering me in marriage, and the offer was favorably accepted, and Ahoshta sent word that he would marry me this very year at the time of high summer.

I butted into the conversation. "Woah, woah, woah! Hold up a second, you're telling me you're getting put into a forced marriage! That's, just, wrong. Especially after you lost your mother and brother for Pete's sake!"

I heard Aravis groan under her breath. Before she could keep going, Shasta butted in. "First, who is 'Pete' fellow. And another thing, and what did that matter to you anyways. You were a Calormene then, weren't you?"

I rolled my eyes, glaring at him as I replied. "Shasta, obviously something happened to change her mind. Will you just give her a chance to finish her story?"

Shasta opened his mouth to speak before I beat him to the punch. "And before you say something, I interrupted for clarification, not to be a pain."

He really didn't like that. I felt Shasta's glare on me for the next twenty minutes before it dissipated. Aravis, meanwhile, cleared her throat as loud as she could to get our attention.

Bree and Hwin just looked at each other, no doubt silently wondering what the squabble's point was.

"When this news was brought to me the sun appeared dark in my eyes and me laid myself on my bed and wept for a day. But on the second day, I rose up and washed my face and caused my mare Whin to be saddled and took with me a sharp dagger which my brother had carried in the western wars and rode out alone. And when my father's house was out of sight and I came to a green place in a certain wood where there were no dwellings of men, I dismounted from Whin, my mare and took out the dagger. Then I parted my clothes where I thought the readiest way lay to my heart and I prayed to all the gods that as soon as I was dead, I might find myself in the presence of my brother. After that, I shut my eyes and teeth and prepared to drive the dagger into my heart. But before I had done so, this mare spoke with the voice of the daughters of men and said, "O my mistress, do not destroy yourself, for if you live you may yet have good fortune, but all the dead are dead alike."

"I didn't say it half so well as that," muttered the mare.

I grunted in impressment. "Darn lady, you kept her from running a dagger through her heart. How can that not be impressive."

"Hush you two," said Bree, who was thoroughly enjoying the story. "She's telling it in the grand Calormene manner and no story-teller in a Tisroc's court could do it better. Pray go on, Tarkheena."

Aravis smiled at the compliment and continued with even more confidence in her voice. Shasta was smirking this whole time.

"When I heard the language of men uttered by my mare," Continued Aravis, "I said to myself, the fear of death has disordered my reason and subjected me to delusion. And I became full of none of my lineage ought to fear death more than the biting of a gnat. Therefore I addressed myself a second time to the stabbing, but Hwin came near to me and put her head in between me and the dagger and discoursed to me most excellent reasons rebuked me as a mother rebukes her daughter. And now my wonder was so great that I forgot about killing myself and Ahoshta and said, 'O my mare, how have you learned to speak like one of the daughters of men?' And Hwin told me what is known to all this company, that in Narnia there are beasts that talk, and how she herself was stolen from thence when she was a little foal. She told me also of the woods and waters of Narnia and the castles and the great ships, till I said, "in the name of Tash and Azaroth, and Zardeenah, Lady of the Night, I have a great wish to be in that country of Narnia. "O my mistress, answered the mare, "If you were in Narnia you would be happy, for in that land no maiden is forced to marry someone against her will"

"And when we had talked together for a great time hope returned to me and I rejoiced that I had not killed myself. Moreover, it was agreed between Hwin and I that we should steal ourselves away together and we planned it in this fashion. We returned to my father's house and I put on my gayest clothes and sang and danced before my father and pretended to be delighted with the marriage he had prepared for me. Also I said to him, 'O my father and O delight of my eyes, give me your license and permission to go with one of my maidens alone for three days into the woods to do secret sacrifices to Zardeenah, Lady of the Night and of the Maidens, as is proper and customary for damsels when they must bid farewell to the service of Zardeenah and prepare themselves for marriage.' And he answered, 'O daughter and O delight of my eyes, so shall it follow!'

"But when I came out from the presence of my father immediately to the oldest of his slaves, his secretary, who had dangled me on his knees when I was a baby and loved me more than the air and the light. And I swore him to be secret and begged him to write a certain letter for me. And he wept and implored me to change my resolution but, in the end, he said, 'To hear is to obey,' and did all my will. And I hid the letter and hid it in my bosom."

"But what was in the letter? And why is Jacob red-looking" asked Shasta.

"Uh, don't bother, it wasn't a very – ah – helpful word picture anyways."

"Be quiet youngster," said Bree, "You're spoiling the story. She'll tell us all about the letter in the right place. Go on, Tarkheena."

"Then I called the maid who was to go with me to the woods and perform the rites of Zardeenah and told me to wake me very early in the morning. And I became merry with her and made her wine to drink, but I had mixed such things in her cup that I knew she must sleep for a night and a day. As soon as the father had committed themselves to sleep, I arose and put on the armor of my brothers which I had always kept in my chamber in his memory. I put into my girdle all the money I had, and provided myself with food and saddled the mare and rode away into the second watch of the night. I directed my course, not to the woods where my father supposed I would go, but north and east to Tashbaan. Now for three days and more, I knew my father would not seek me, being deceived by the words I had said to him. And on the fourth day, we arrived at the city of Azim Balsa. Now Azim Balsa stands at the meeting of many roads and from it, the posts of the Tisroc (May he live forever) ride on swift horses to every part of the empire: and it is the rights and privileges of the greater Tarkaans to send messages by them. I, therefore, went to the House of the Messengers in the House of Imperial Posts in Azim Balsa and said, 'O dispatcher of messages, here is a letter from my uncle Ahoshta Tarkaan to Kidrash Tarkaan, lord of Calavar. Take now these five crescents and cause it to be sent to him.' The messenger bowed low, as is appropriate. 'To hear is to obey.'

"This letter was feigned to be written by Ahoshta, and this was the signification of the writing: 'Kidrash Tarkaan to Ahoshta Tarkaan, salutation and peace. In the name of Tash, the, irresistible and the inexorable. Be it known to you that as I made my way toward your house to perform the contract of marriage between me and your daughter Aravis Tarkheena, it pleased fortune and the gods that I fell in love with her in the forest when she had ended the rites and passages of Zardeenah according to the custom of maidens. And when I learned who she was, being delighted with her beauty and discretion, I became inflamed with love and it appeared to me3 that the sun would be dark to me if I did not marry her at once. Accordingly, I prepared the necessary sacrifices and married your daughter the same hour that I met her and returned with her to my own house." "And we both pray and charge that you come hither as speedily as you may that we may be delighted with your face and speech; and also, that you may bring with you the dowry of my wife, which, by reason of my great charges and expense, I require without delay. And because thou and I are brothers, I assure myself that you will not be angered by the haste of my marriage which is wholly occasioned by the great love I bear your daughter and I commit you to the care of all of the gods.'

"As soon as I had done this, I rode in all haste from all Azim Balsa, fearing no pursuit and expecting that my father, having received such a letter, would send a message to Ahoshta or go to him himself and that before the matter should be discovered, we should be beyond Tashbaan. And that is the pith of my story until this very night when I was chased by lions and met you at the swimming of the salt water."

I sat there stunned a second before I gave a low whistle, looked at Aravis and said: "Darn, you're a heck of a shrewd planner. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Aravis scrunched up her face for a minute. I thought I had offended her until she burst out laughing and gave me a wink.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, very funny."

"And what happened to the girl - the one you drugged?" asked Shasta.

"Doubtless, she was beaten for sleeping late," said Aravis coolly. "But she was a tool and spy of my stepmother's. I am very glad they should beat her."

"I say, that's hardly fair," said Shasta.

I snorted. "Fair, that's the best you can come up with? How about inhumane, mean, cruel – actually, how about just plain barbaric!"

Aravis didn't say anything, so Hwin spoke up. "I'm afraid it is very barbaric down there my friend. The Calormenes are a proud people, and proudness left unchecked makes you desire endless power. Although, I dare say the worst of it is the Tash worship."

I don't know why, but I felt a shudder pass through me and a feeling of pure dread wash over me.

Aravis looked at us and said very pointedly, though a little more to Shasta than me, "I did not do any of these things for the sake of pleasing _**you**_."

"And there's another thing I don't understand about that story, said Shasta. "You're not grown up, I don't believe you're any older than me. How could you be getting married at your age?"

Aravis sat there and said nothing. I thought she looked stunned and slightly annoyed. Before she could say anything, Bree spoke up. "Shasta, don't display your ignorance. They're always married at that age in the great Tarkaan families."

For half a second, I thought I saw Shasta turn beet red, although I probably couldn't have seen it anyways. After that, Bree told the story of meeting Shasta and their journey up to this point. Bree seemed to put extra emphasis on Shasta's falls and mishaps. Bree was the only one who considered it funny because the rest of us didn't say anything. By the time we finished Bree and Shasta's accounts, we were all exhausted and went to bed.

I didn't sleep much that night. Heck, I didn't sleep at. I was still so shocked at what was happening, I squirmed and tossed all night. The ground seemed hard and cold. Granted, I was probably slightly pampered from having a bed to sleep in. The uneasiness seemed to amplify everything, and I felt every rough grain of dirt under me. And then there was the noise, everything sounded like a horse or wild animal to me.

And then around five in the morning, I finally managed to get to sleep. My head went into comfort mode, convincing me this whole thing was a bad dream. Images of my model trains started going through my head as I finally drifted into the deep REM sleep.

 **If you're a first-time reader, THANK YOU FOR READING! And if you're a** _ **returning**_ **reader, welcome back. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it, so don't forget to COMMENT. And now for a preview of the next chapter:**

"Ow! What in the Sam Hill?"

It took all my mental prowess not to tear the things off. I wanted my jeans and T-shirt back.

Hwin looked kind of shocked. "Jacob, it's obviously hurting him somewhat."

"Hush," said Bree, "here we are!"

One of the guards grabbed a carrot out of a basket and threw it at Shasta.


	4. How to Sneak Into a City

**Previously on the Dragon Rider Chronicles we found out how Jacob went through the portal and met Bree, Shasta, Hwin, an Aravis. Shasta then related how he and Bree escaped and Aravis explained how when tricked her servants and fled from Tashbaan. We catch up with them the next morning.**

… **.**

Chapter 3

If you want a rude awakening, I sure received it the next morning. I was dreaming about steam locomotives when someone dumped ice water on my head. I a yelp and shot up, only to plop back down on the ground with a groan.

"Ha, ha, very funny Michal!" I really hoped he could feel the satire leaking through my voice. I laid there for a second longer, closing my eyes as I let out a slow groan. "Oh, holy cow, that was a heck of a dream." I felt a horse muzzle rubbing on me. My hand reached up to scratch its nose absentmindedly.

I got a snickering laugh for a response. "Come, lad, I let you sleep as long as I could, but we need to get on the road."

It was then that everything slammed back into my head. This wasn't a dream. I was in Narnia and I had just heard a horse talk. Yeah, back to the trip through the impossible.

Bree waited for me to crawl out of the tent and stretch before continuing. "Now then, do you know how to saddle and ride?" I looked at him with a smirk before replying, "Uh, yeah. I'm used to riding bareback, but I could figure a saddle out."

"Good," Bree said with a satisfied nod, "help us pack up the tents. Shasta, Aravis, you can finish up while Jacob saddles up the horses." Shasta looked at me with a smirk. "Will you just stop that. Besides, you're just smug because you don't have to do the saddles." Shasta just turned back to the tents without saying anything. I let out a sigh and turned toward the horses.

It took about a half hour for us to get going. Shasta and Aravis finished getting the tents broken down. At that point, Aravis started gathering up the rest of the meager pots and pans. Bree walked over to help Shasta fold up the tents, while I watched the spectacle from Hwin's flank. As a matter of fact, there were a few minutes of Aravis chasing Shasta around with a frying pan. I heard her shout something and saw Shasta look up, white as a sheet. He stood there for a minute and then started running.

… **SECTION BREAK…**

The saddle was proving to be a pain. The thing was heavier than I figured, and I grunted as I swung it up on Hwin. Wrangled would be a better description. Hwin flinched somewhat, and I silently cursed. "Oh man, sorry! I hope that didn't hurt too much!"

Hwin snorted with the blow. "It's fine, Jacob. There were plenty of young stable boys that did the same in Tashbaan. Besides, it appears the morning festivities come with a show."

I burst out laughing as Bree trotted over, himself getting a smile as he watched me deal with the saddle. "I take it you're learning?" "Yeah. If you can call plopping a saddle down on her learning. Hey. What's the frying pan incident."

Bree snorted and rolled his eyes. "Apparently Shasta didn't finish washing the pans last night. Aravis was rather livid when she found it. Are you going to stand there, or put mine on as well?" "Shasta, Shasta, your one crazy nerd." With that, Hwin helped me get Bree saddled up while the commotion died down.

The two of them finally brought the bundles over to us. I could see at least one ding where Aravis had managed to catch Shasta. I couldn't help but smirk as I looked at them. "So, you had your morning exercise then?" Shasta's smirk depended, and I had to bite my lounge to keep from laughing. "Don't say anything!" "Hey man, I didn't say anything. I just made an observation." Hwin let out a sigh. "Let's just get going."

Aravis and I rode Hwin and Shasta rode Bree. Bree and Hwin talked among themselves most of the time and none of us could come up with anything to say. I didn't mind it too much because it gave me a chance to listen in, learning more abought the geography and history of this world. Bree wasn't intentionally leaving Shasta out of anything, but Hwin and Bree got caught up in their conversation. Aravis didn't talk to Shasta very much, and I could feel the slight tension between them.

I didn't mean to ignore anybody, but after a while, I lost myself in thought. Now that the shock had worn off, I started to realize how lucky I was and how surreal an experience this was. I was in another dimension, a separate niche of time and space. I was doing something that people have written and dreamed about for decades. And to top it all off, the events so far, were dead-on to the original books by C.S. Lewis. Who would have thought! But then the fact that I was trapped here popped into the front of my head.

Trapped.

No way out.

Unknown territory and unknown dangers. God, I was stuck and absolutely terrified.

But then I remembered I had to be calm, worrying wouldn't get me out of here any faster. Then I did the only thing I could to stay calm. I prayed. The time seemed to fly by as I recited Psalms 38 to myself.

… **SECTION BREAK….**

We finally started getting close to Tashbaan. That also meant well-traveled roads, more people, and a higher chance to be recognized.

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt Bree pull to a stop. He turned around and Aravis said to me, "Jacob, we're going to have to get you more appropriate clothes. Everybody has been noticing you and we don't need the attention."

"What? Oh, bloody heck. Alright, what did you guys have in mind?"

After stealing some clothes, Bree called it "raiding", I looked like a regular apprentice. Except for the fact I couldn't stop scratching myself. I was expecting the itch factor. I wasn't expecting it to feel like a wall of ants on me. It took everything to keep from tearing the smock and pants off. I wanted my jeans and T-shirt back.

With an itchy groan from me and a snort from the horses, we kept going. Two hours passed as I slowly got used to the coarse fabric. The traffic density steadily increased as we crept closer to Tashbaan. By this point, everyone had stopped talking. The risk of someone being recognized was simply too high.

There wasn't much to do so I drifted into daydreams and observations to keep calm. The impression Arvis's story left was a very strict class separation. The other impression I gleaned was that Tash was a very cruel and deplorable god. The state of the people walking by could be summed up in one word. Hopelessness. The ones who were dressed like me or Shasta hardly looked up from the ground. When I caught the eyes of the few that did, the eyes were a lifeless and dull gray. Shivers ran up and down my spine at the hopelessness in their expressions. Aravis still looked smug, although it was probably automatic because of her upbringing. Whenever one of the peasants or beggar boys bumped into Bree, their eyes showed absolute fear for a nanosecond before they shrunk away from the former warhorse.

The two hours finally passed, and we came to a halt. The shadow of Tashbaan loomed in the distance. Far enough that we still had roughly half a day of riding, but close enough that we could see it's grayish blue color on the horizon.

Unfortunately, that also meant we finally had to deal with how to make it through Tashbaan. The nervousness started welling up in me again. I mean, if they were worried, then making it through was even more dangerous than I imagined.

We followed a secondary path that branched off the main road, taking shelter in an empty house. The building was far enough away that the condition wouldn't draw any attention. More importantly, though, we wouldn't be overheard.

I groaned as I slid down off the saddle. My whole backside was sore, and the inside of my thighs was numb. I started rubbing them to get the circulation going, feeling the painful tingle as they started to come back to life. With a sigh to myself, I made my way back over to the others. Shasta had ended up with Bree on his left and Hwin on his right. Aravis has slid down off the saddle, adjusting a few of the saddle straps before ducking around under Arvis's head. Both she and Bree plopped down on the ground. I sprawled out next to Bree's head with a groan, too achy and tried to care about grass itch.

The others meanwhile, had started arguing about how best to make it through the city. Yeah, this would be fun. The disagreement was almost constant now. Bree finally became exasperated, suggesting we should establish a meeting place in case we were separated in Tashbaan. I wanted to ask that myself, but I didn't feel like getting in the middle of the argument. Bree suggested the Tombs of the Ancient Kings as the meeting spot. Mainly because, as he put it, they were things "like great beehives, you can't possibly miss them."

… **SECTION BREAK…**

I took issue on that one. "Well good grief, if they're that obvious then wouldn't the Calormenes be able to just chase us there if we were found out? I mean, there's good hiding places and then there's unworkable ones."

Bree let out a pure snort of contempt. "Oh please, haunted! Those tombs are about as haunted as a Tarkaans stomach at a royal feast."

Aravis had glanced over at Shasta and noticed the sheet of white on his face. "Shasta, you don't believe that silly nonsense about ghosts, do you?"

Shasta jerked his head up and stammered as he tried to answer. "I, ah – well – the thing is – oh, bother. I have no idea how to say it."

I rolled my eyes and worked myself into a sitting position. "Shasta, thinking about it will only make it that much harder to say. Just spit it out man."

"Well, kind of. I mean, something pushed me to Arsheesh's hut. There wasn't any wind that day and the water was as calm as it could be. I know the man wasn't much of a father and downright mean to me sometimes, but he was honest without a fault."

I sat there pulling up blades of grass as I thought about what to say to him. "Shasta, just because there wasn't waves or wind doesn't automatically mean something supernatural. There are such things as tides and ocean currents and most of the time you don't even know about them. I'm not discounting the supernatural, just warning you to be careful. People can go through some pretty dark doors when they get in too deep."

Shasta's eyes got wide for a minute. "No, no. It's nothing like that. It's just that I've always had this feeling of being watched."

Arvis's head bobbed up and down in a silent nod. "Thank you for telling us Shasta, I understand now why you would be nervous about it." Shasta didn't say anything, just sat there pulling grass.

Bree cleared his throat, grabbing our attention as he brought the conversation to a close. "Well, then. I believe we should call it a night. The shadows are starting to get long, and our best bet is to blend in with the early morning crowds."

It took us a bout a half hour to set up camp. We were all strangely quiet, no doubt thinking about tomorrow. The specter of Tashbaan was looming large in both the background and our minds. As for my thoughts, they were focusing on the future. This was real. The trip so far had burned that into my head, and I had finally accepted this whole thing was really happening. Maybe this wasn't a curse, but a blessing. My whole thought process had gone from shocked, to scared, and now an apprehensive confidence with Tashbaan on the horizon. The only thing I initially wanted was to get home. I still wanted that, but there was something else starting to come through. A chance. A chance to be the brave hero I had in my mind. I knew if I didn't learn how to just 'do it', I would balk at every hard opportunity in life. I was in a place where no one I knew could see me screw up. That was the confidence part. This whole thing was an experience and I had the opportunity to stand up and be a man or let my tendency to freeze define the rest of my life. One point was clear, I was NOT going to do the second. I prayed hard that night, for courage, for strength, but mainly for a reckless courage.

Morning rammed the current predicament back to my mind. Making it through a capital like Tashbaan was much easier said than done. Aravis suggested swimming across the river below the city rather than above it.

Bree had two reasons against that. One, the amount of shipping would make us stand out like a sore thumb. The other reason being that it was too much of a swim for Hwin. I suspected it was too far for Bree as well, though I didn't vocalize it.

Shasta countered with crossing upriver where it was narrower. Unfortunately, summer houses and estates lined both banks for miles and that meant recognition for Aravis, Bree, or Hwin.

Ultimately, it was Hwin who came up with the best idea. We would simply disguise everything other than the saddles as pack bundles. Of course, we had to "borrow" some rope and smear enough dirt on ourselves for the beggar look. It took the rest of the evening to round everything up, before turning in for the night.

… **SECTION BREAK…**

The sun was creeping over the horizon as we finished the horses tails and started tying the bundles on. If I had to pick, the most hilarious part was when Aravis took her scimitar and went to work on the horse's tails. Hwin twitched a little bit, but I figured it would be somewhat annoying. I know horses don't have nerves in their tails, but still.

Bree, on the other hand, was a total ham. Bree acted like we were trying to pull his tail completely out!

"My word! If I wasn't a talking horse, what a lovely kick in the face I could give you! I thought you were going to cut it, not pull it out. That's what it feels like."

I had been watching them and trying _**so**_ hard not to laugh, but I couldn't take it anymore. "Bree, My poor, poor horse, you're killing me here! Stop it."

Hwin looked kind of shocked. "Jacob, it's obviously hurting him somewhat."

"I know, sorry Hwin. It's one of those things that looks funny but doesn't feel very funny right now. I bet if you look back at it a couple years, it probably will be." No one said anything to that. Despite the cold wetness, we eventually finished everything as the sun started to peek above the horizon

My jaw dropped when I saw Tashbaan. I don't know which part of our world the Calormenes came from, but I swear it was the Middle East. The whole city screamed "Arabian Nights". The city was an island in the middle of the river delta where it emptied into the ocean. Every inch was covered with stairs, houses, terraces, and tons of vegetation, including a dozen different types of fruit trees. A broad bridge connected the main road on the north and south side of the city. At first, it looked like both banks of the river were covered in a forest, but as you looked closer, you would see the white walls of dozens of mansions peeking out.

I guess both Shasta and I must have slowed down a little bit because the horses kept nudging us to get going.

Shasta was the one to finally say something. "I say! This is a wonderful place!"

Bree snorted softly and whispered to the rest of us. "I dare say. But I wish we were safely through it and out on the other side. Narnia and the North!

Shasta and I were slightly startled when a trumpet started out real low and gradually swelled to a crescendo.

Bree answered the obvious question. "That is the signal for the city gates to be opened. We shall be there in a minute. Now Aravis, do droop your shoulders a bit and step heavier and try to look less like a princess. Try to imagine you've been beaten and cuffed and kicked your whole life.

Aravis looked back at him with a smirk. "If it comes to that, what about you dropping your head a bit more and arching your neck a bit less, and trying to look less like a war horse!"

"Oh, for the love of Pete," I retorted back, "if we each focus on ourselves instead of each other, we'll be a lot more convincing!"

"Hush," said Bree, "here we are!"

… **SECTION BREAK….**

We had made it to the bridge and started across. Unfortunately, Aravis didn't like being told what to do, because she retorted to Bree as loud and savagely as she could in the circumstances. "Oh, it's all very well for you! What would you care about Tashbaan! I should be riding in on a litter with soldiers before me and slaves behind!"

We funneled into to the crowd of peasants, tradesmen, and their pack animals inching across the bridge.

Nearing the other bank allowed an in-depth glance at the city fortifications. The walls were at least five feet thick, and the gates were two huge wood slabs with bronze-covered steel bracing. I would estimate guard towers were placed every 30 – 50 feet. A dozen guards, six on each side of the road stood armed with a scimitar and a spear and looked about 5'5" More guards roamed the top of the walls, eyes scanning everyone trying to enter. As much as I would come to despise Calormene, I must give them some points for security. The whole deal gave me the opportunity to just sit there and observe. When I had first read the books, I thought the Calormenes sounded like something out of Arabian Nights. Turbans, Middle Eastern clothing, and scimitars were how I pictured them. The reality was an exact match.

I couldn't help but feel slightly impressed and thoroughly disgusted at the same time. I had expected the poverty, unsanitary conditions and everything else that came with medieval living. But it was also a very potent reminder of man's sin nature and what happens when the sanctity of human life is forgotten. People are turned into commodities, and thousands of people's lives hang on a whim. The whole experience made me increasingly grateful to live in America.

… **SECTION BREAK…**

Hopefully, no one would be curious enough to ask a question. We didn't have any trouble at the gate, but for a second I thought we had been found out. One of the guards grabbed a carrot out of a basket and threw it at Shasta.

"Hey! Horse boy! You'll catch it if your master finds you've been using his saddle-horse for pack work!"

I paled at what Shasta did next. "It's my master's orders, so there!"

The guard had a look of incredulity on his face for a minute before it changed to anger and insult. My heart jumped into my throat and all I could think about was getting caught. The guard reached over and decked Shasta so hard it almost knocked him down.

"Take that, young filth, that will teach you how to talk to free men." I left out a breath I barely knew I was holding. The rest of the crossing was uneventful as we slunk into the city.

Shasta, much less me, had any sense of direction. The others obviously did, so they would nudge us in the right direction when we came to a junction. After heading along the wall, we swung left and started up the main street. Trees flanked both sides and the houses started to become grander. Through every arch, you saw more branches and gardens inside. Criers frequently came up the street shouting at us to make way for some noble, or lord, or "the fifteenth vizier". I lost track of the authority chain in five minutes. Let's just say the ranking in Tashbaan was insanely ridiculous.

…

 **Will everyone make it through? And in this sea of people, will someone recognize the horses, or worse yet, Aravis? The action is getting ready to pick up and a case of mistaken identity will send our group on two separate paths to Narnia.**

 **Thank – you so much for reading everyone! READ AND REVIEW PEOPLE!**

 **Don't forget to check out my YouTube page for model train videos, just search for Goose in The Caboose Productions.**


	5. Confused Identities and Secret Councils

**Previously on** _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ **, Jacob and the others successfully made it into Tashbaan. But the danger's not over yet, so let's see what happens.**

Chapter 4

Another crier came up the street, but this one had something more interesting to say.

"Way, way, way! Way for the White Barbarian king, the guest of the Tisroc! Way for the Narnian Lords!"

That was when the worst happened. Well, we thought it was the worst at the time, but when I look back at it, it was actually pretty good. Shasta and I found out that saved Archenland, Aravis found a guaranteed way to get through, and I met Edmund, Susan, and Lucy.

Compared to the Calormenes, they looked like the happiest people on earth. Their clothes were bright and happy, the swords they carried were arrow straight, and the crier was the only Calormene in the group. As everyone was scrunching themselves up to make room for their Majesties, the pressure caused Bree's halter rope to get ripped out of his hand. To make it worse, Shasta and I both ended up in the front row of the crowd.

The leader was scanning the crowd when his eyes landed Shasta. His eyebrows shot up like a rocket, and he made a beeline right toward us. Shasta and I were scared stiff. Once he reached us, the king gave Shasta a slap. Not an abusive one, but one to let you know you're in disgrace.

He waged his finger at Shasta and said: "Shame on you my lord! Fie for shame! Queen Susan's eyes are red with weeping for you. What! Truant for a whole night and nothing to say for yourself! Where have you been! And who is your friend? That last question was asked with an inquiring look straight at me.

… **Section Break…**

If Shasta and I could have gotten away by running behind Bree, we would have. But we couldn't because the whole company had surrounded us. Both Shasta's heart and mine were beating a hundred miles an hour and I could feel my palms sweating. I wanted to wipe them off, but that would have only drawn attention to ourselves. I saw Shasta thinking about what to say. There actually wasn't anything we could say without ruining the whole mission. We both looked at the horses, but they couldn't help and sat there looking as dumb as any horse could. And we didn't dare look at Aravis, someone would recognize her for sure.

Before we could even think, the man looked at someone in the company. "Take one of his Lordship's hands, Peridian, of your courtesy, and I'll take the other. And now, on. Our royal sister's mind will be greatly eased when she sees our young scapegrace safely in our lodging."

Apparently, Shasta thought I could do something because he chose that moment to make them take me as well. "Wait, I will not go back unless my friend goes with me. I was set upon by two bullies. Four more came out of nowhere and he came to my aid! He's trying to return to family in Archenland and has no ride. I at least owe him that." The man looked annoyed, but Peridian stood up for me. "King Edmund, I for one, have compassion on this lad. And by the tone of Prince Corrin's voice, he is obviously telling the truth." Edmund thought for a moment. "Very well, Peridian. Young man, come with us."

I scrambled to keep up as the royal party took off at a rapid pace. I knew I couldn't lose them or I would never see the others again. Not to mention getting home. As we walked, King Edmund and Peridian kept asking the two of us where we had been, how we met, where I came from, and those sorts of questions.

We turned down a narrow street and all the hustle of the main avenue seemed to disappear. We went down a flight of shallow stairs, up another, and to a wide doorway in a white wall. There were two shrubs on either side of the door and once through it, a large tranquil garden/courtyard were inside. A fountain was in the center with lush plants all over the place. After walking through the garden, we went through another door while the crier remained outside. I was both scared stiff and nervous at the same time. I guess I had some smarts though because I was trying to remember the route we took if Shasta and I had to make a bolt for it.

Once we got through the room, we were amid luxury. Beautiful vases and pictures were scattered around the room and the carpet was so vibrant and rich that it was like walking on soft moss. There was a couch in the middle and one of the prettiest women I've seen was sitting the couch. From the conversations before, I figured this had to be Queen Susan. As soon as she saw Shasta, she jumped up, ran over, and just about squeezed him to death in a hug. I saw it coming, so I backed up to give them some room. I saw her give me a brief glance and I knew I was in for another boatload of questions.

"Oh Corin, Corin, how could you! And thou and such close friends since thy mother died. And what should I have said to thy royal father if I came home without thee? Would have been a cause almost have been a cause of war between Archenland and Narnia, which have been friends almost time out of mind. It was naught, playmate, very naughty of thee to use us so. Where hast thou been, Corin?"

… **Section Break…**

The only thing Shasta could do was issue a stammered reply. "I-I don't know."

Edmund looked at his sister. "That's it? After the story you told us earlier, I expected more."

"What account did he give, brother?"

"There's the rub, Susan. He said, in no uncertain terms, that he was set upon by two boys and just before he finished fending them off, four more of their friends came to the aid of the first two. That was when his friend here came to Corrin's aid and proceeded to fend off the four that had come out after the first two. What's more, this boy has family in a country I've never heard of. I do not know why, but the name sounds vaguely familiar. Corin says he owes him a passage in gratitude for the aid he provided."

Queen Susan was becoming more shocked with worry as Edmund retold Shasta's story. When he came to the part about me helping, Susan's eyes darted to me and were a mix of fear, compassion, and superb gratefulness.

Edmund had just finished telling Shasta's story and Queen Susan's eyes darted straight to me. "Young man, what is your name and where are you from?"

I had been thinking up a backstory since we arrived at the mansion and hoped all that acting practice would come in handy. "Well, there's not much to tell. I'm from a country called America and I was on a camping trip with some friends when I lost my way. There wasn't any sign of my camp so I didn't know what else to do except start walking. I just journeyed north and ended up in Tashbaan. I was so excited when Prince Corin guaranteed passage up north. Please, I won't be any trouble. I know how to ride and saddle up a horse fairly well so I won't slow you down or anything."

"Brother, I believe we should do this. We do owe him for helping Prince Corin. This place named America sounds vaguely familiar. The only people I know of that can help you are in Narnia, so it looks like you will be coming with us."

I looked at Susan with the most genuine look of gratefulness I've ever had. "Thank you so much. This means more to me than you will ever know. You won't regret it."

Shasta had an enormous look of gratitude and relief on his face. I think both Shasta and I were starting to think that we might make it to Narnia after all. Maybe I would make it home. What happened next nearly made Shasta and I jump out of our skin.

"Your Majesties! Queen Susan! King Edmund! Your Majesties. His little highness has had a touch of the sun. Look at Him! He's dazed. He doesn't know where he is." The owner of the voice was a faun. That was fairly easy to guess. As I would come to find out later, this was none other than Mr. Tumnus.

… **Section Break…**

As soon as Mr. Tumnus mentioned the flu, everyone went into hyperdrive. Susan and Edmund backed off immediately and Mr. Tumnus started to lead Shasta and me into a separate room with two couches. Shasta laid down on one and was given an iced sherbet in a solid gold cup.

It was then I decided to use my knowledge of Lewis's books and take a gamble. "Mr. Tumnus, I know this will probably sound like a weird question, but what do you know about portals to other worlds? I think that electrical shock was when I was transported through the portal."

Mr. Tumnus looked at me with a rather nervous expression. "This is not the place to talk about that thing lad. Come with me, we'll go someplace safe. Besides, this particular issue concerns King Edmund and Queen Susan. And please, any friend of the Prince is a friend of mine. You call me Tumnus, and I'll call you Jacob."

I looked at him and said, "You got a deal buddy."

As we went the short distance back to the group I could see a look of great anxiousness on Edmund's face. When we joined the group, Susan was on the couch, and two dwarves stood across from us. One was named Grimsby and the other Beardstead. Your Majesties," asked Tumnus, "could we talk to you a minute. I believe I have some insight that might help us get this admirable young man home." Edmund looked at us. Now that we were closer, I could see even more worry in his eyes.

"Tumnus, my dear friend. There is a more pressing matter. One that if not taken care of, might very well doom us all, including our young friend here and his chances of getting home."

Edmund turned back to Susan and finished his thought.

"Now madam, what think you? We have been in this city fully three weeks. Have you settled in your mind whether you will marry this dark-faced lover of yours, this Prince Rabadash, or no?"

Susan's face was overcome with a look of disgust.

"No, brother, not for all the jewels in Tashbaan." Edmund looked relieved immediately.

Edmund let out a sigh of relief.

"Truly sister, I should have loved you the less if you had taken him. And I tell you at the first coming of the Tisroc's ambassadors into Narnia to treat of this marriage, and later when the prince was our guest at Cair Paravel, that ever you could find it in your heart to show him so much favor."

Susan took her turn next. "That was my folly Edmund, of which I cry you mercy. Yet when he was with us in Narnia, truly this prince bore himself in another fashion than he does now in Tashbaan. For I take you all to witness what marvelous feats he did in that great tournament which our brother the High King made for him, and how meekly and courteously he consorted with us in the space of seven days. But here, in his own city, he has shown another face."

The raven took the opportunity to put his two cents in. "Ah! It is an old saying: see the bear in his own den before you judge of his condition."

Grimsby gave a solemn nod. "That's very true Swallowpad," said one of the dwarfs. "And another is; Come, live with me, and you will know me."

Edmund picked the conversation back up. "Yes, we have now seen him for what he is. A proud, bloody, luxurious, cruel and self-pleasing tyrant.

Susan piped up next. "Then in the name of Aslan, let us leave Tashbaan this very day."

"That's the rub, sister. For now, I must open to you all that had been happening these last two days and more. Peridian, of your courtesy, look to the door and see that there is no spy upon us." Peridian swiftly went to the door and, after looking to see that no one was watching, and gave Edmund a nod to continue. "All is well? Good. For now, we must be secret." By this point, I had forgotten that Shasta was at the other end of the room. Susan must have noticed the look on Edmund's face because she jumped up off the couch. "Oh, Edmund there is something dreadful in your face."

…

 **Alright people, read and REVIEW! Comments, suggestion, criticism, I want to hear all of it.**

 **Also, I want your thoughts on a schedule for posting new chapters. I'm probably going to start out with a chapter every two weeks, so we'll see how that goes.**


	6. A Plan of Escape and Some Sparring

**Previously on the Dragon Rider Chronicles, Jacob was separated from Hwin and the others in a case mistaken identity. With Shasta being mistaken for Prince Cor, King Edmund took both of them back to the mansion where the Narnians were saying. Jacob managed to ask Tumnus what he knew about portals, and they walked in on Peridian, Edmund, Susan, and the dwarves Grimsby and Beardstead in a most disturbing conversation. Let's see what happens.**

…

"My dear sister and very good Lady, you must now show your courage. For I tell you we are in no small danger." "Edmund, what is it?" "It is this. I do not think we shall find it easy to leave Tashbaan." The raven croaked up. "I warned your majesties, I warned you. Easily in, cut not easily out, as the lobster said in the lobster pot." Edmund continued. "I have been with the prince this morning. He is little used to having his will crossed. And he is much chaffed at your long delays and doubtful answers. This morning he pressed very hard to know your mind. I put it off – at the same time meaning to diminish his hopes – with some light jests about women's fancies and hinted that his suit was likely to be cold. He grew angry and dangerous. There was a threatening, though still veiled under courtesy, in every word he spoke.

It was at this point that Tumnus added his account. "Yes. And when I dined with the grand vizier last night, it was the same. He asked me how I liked Tashbaan. And I (for I could not tell him I hated every stone and I would not lie) told him that now when high summer was coming on, my heart turned to the cool woods and dewy slopes of Narnia. He gave me a look that meant no good and said: "There is nothing to hinder you from dancing there again, little goat foot, always provided you leave us a bride in exchange for our prince."

Susan had a classic look of horror on her face. "Do you mean that he intends to make me his wife by force?" You could have heard the indignation in her voice for 20 miles.

"I hate to point out the obvious, but you guys have been snickered. Big Time." Edmund rolled his eyes at me, before chuckling. "You're an alright kid, I like you. But yes, that's my fear, Susan. Which is better, wife or slave.

Susan was ripe with indignation. "But how can he? Does the Tisroc think our brother the High King would suffer such an outrage?"

I interrupted with a brief thought. "Um, no offense, but I got a good look at the walls when I came into the city. If this Prince Rabadash kept Susan here, there's no way you could get enough men across the desert to rescue her. And the ones that didn't die in the desert would get killed trying to scale the walls."

"I fear our young friend makes a fair point." That was Peridian. "And furthermore, they would not be so mad. Do they think there are no swords or spears in Narnia?"

"Alas," said Edmund. "My guess is the Tisroc has a very small fear of Narnia. We are a little land. And little lands on the borders of great kingdoms were always hateful to great kingdoms. He longs to blot them out, gobble them up. When first he suffered the prince to come to Cair Paravel as your lover, sister, it may be that he was only seeking an occasion against us. Most likely, he hopes to make a mouthful of Narnia and Archenland both."

… **Section Break…**

Grimsby spoke up next. "Let him try. At sea, we are as strong as he is. And if he assaults us by land, he has the desert to cross."

Edmund had a curious look in his eye as he replied. "True friend, but is the desert a sure defense. What does Swallowpad say?"

At this point, my ears perked up. Mainly so I could find my north by myself if I needed to. I didn't think about it, but Shasta did the same thing.

Swallowpad had a very creaky voice as he spoke. But then again, he was a raven. "I know that desert well. For I have flown above it far and wide in my younger days, and this is certain. If the Tisroc goes by the great desert he can never lead a great army across it into Archenland. For though they could reach the oasis by the end of their first day's march, yet the strings there would be too little for the thirst of all those soldiers and their beasts. But there is another way. He that would find the way must start from the tombs of the Ancient Kings and ride so that the double peak of Mount Pier is always straight ahead of him. And so, in a day's riding and a little more, he shall come to the head of a stony valley, which is so narrow that a man might be within a furlong of it a thousand times and never know it was there. And looking down this valley, he will see neither grass or water nor anything else good. But if he rides down it will come to a river and can ride through it all the way to Archenland."

Susan was the first one to reply. "And do the Calormenes know of this western way?"

Apparently, we had strayed off topic, because Edmund steered us back. "Friends, friends, what is the use of all this discourse? We are not asking whether Narnia or Calormene would win if war arose between them. We are asking how to save the honor of the queen our own lives out of this devilish city. For though my brother, Peter the High King, defeated the Tisroc a dozen times over, yet long before that day our throats would be cut and the Queen's grace would be the wife, or more likely, the slave, of this prince.

"Now, what does our young friend here have to say?"

"Wait, what? I'm just an observer, your majesty. There's no way I could even begin to comment."

"Of course, you can, you're a friend, are you not? That, and you are in the same boat as us, if not worse. And please, my friends call me just Edmund. Or Ed."

My eyebrows arched up and I tilted my head to the side a bit. "Uh, okay. I know this isn't really my conversation, but if this is affecting my chances of getting out alive, then I think it's as much my concern as it is yours. There are a few things. First, shouldn't I be learning to use a sword or something? If it comes to a fight, I don't want you to end up getting killed because you're worried about me. I don't want to get killed for that matter, and I have no idea how much I actually know." Everyone looked at me a moment before Edmund replied.

"Yes, yes of course. After we're done here, we will go into another room and I'll give you some training. Second, we are surrounded by hostiles for probably twenty miles in every direction. Second. There are only two possible ways out of here, by boat or overland, and the overland is through the desert. Third. We have no way of knowing whether the Calormenes are on to us without showing our hand, so to speak. So because of that, part of our discussion has to

be how to get through the desert if we're forced overland.

… **Section Break…**

Peridian had a giant grin on his face. "Friends, this is a wonderful ally we have here. I assume this is his first time in a situation like this, and yet he has as much tact as any of us. If we make it out of this, I should personally like to tutor him. With your majesties permissions of course."

Edmund just laughed. "Of course. We will all have much to teach him once we get through this. That, Jacob, is your first lesson. Your thoughts directly relate to your effectiveness. Always think positive."

"I will Edmund. Thank you."

Grimsby picked the conversation back up. "We have our weapons, King. And this is a reasonably defensible house.

Edmund replied in a rather grim tone. "As to that, I am sure each one of us would sell our lives dearly at the gate and they would not come to the queen but over our dead bodies, even Jacob here. But I would be a disservice to both our queen, our friend here, and our country to cause so much grief over our deaths. Yet we should be like rats fighting in a trap when it is all over.

"Very true. These last stands in a house make good stories, but nothing ever came of them. After the first few repulses, the enemy always set the house on fire." And there was the raven, again.

I noticed Susan's frown had been slowly worsening. Apparently, she couldn't take it any longer because what she came next was choked out.

"Oh, I am the cause of all this. If only I had never left Cair Paravel. Our last happy day was before those ambassadors came from Calormene. The moles were planting an orchard for us and" She couldn't speak anymore and completely broke down in sobs. That was a pretty sad sight.

Edmund was pretty saddened too because he went over to give her a hug and gently encouraged her. "Courage Su, courage. Remember – But what is the matter with you Mr. Tumnus?" He stopped and looked up at Mr. Tumnus like all of us were doing.

Mr. Tumnus, however, looked like his horns were about to pop out of his skull. He was holding them with both hands and virtually hammering one hoof on the tile. "I'm thinking. I'm thinking so hard I can hardly breathe. Wait, wait. Do wait." He let out a long breath and mopped his head before continuing. "The only trouble is getting down to our ship - with some stores - without being seen and stopped."

Beardstead decided to interrupt and said it just about as dryly as 20 grit sandpaper. "Yes, just as a beggar's only difficulty about riding is that he has no horse.

Mr. Tumnus picked back up again. "Wait, wait. All we need is some pretext for going down to our ship today and taking stuff on board."

Edmund apparently wanted to hear more, although I have a hunch he might know what the faun was getting at. All he said was a simple 'yes'.

Tumnus continued with growing excitement in his voice. "Well, then, how would it be if your majesties bade the Prince to a great banquet aboard our own ship the _Splendor Hyaline,_

tomorrow night? And let the message be worded as graciously as the queen can contrive without pledging her honor: so as to give the Prince a hope that she is weakening.

That was when the crow interrupted. "That is very good counsel sire."

Tumnus was getting pretty excited as he continued. "And then, everyone will be expecting us to go down to the ship all day and spend every minim we have at the fruit stands and the sweetmeat sellers and the wine merchants as if we were giving a real feast. And let us order magicians and jugglers and dancing girls and flute players, all to be on board tomorrow night."

I think it was starting to dawn on Edmund and myself because Edmund was rubbing his hands together. "I see, I see."

"And then, we'll all be on board tonight and as soon as it is quite dark"

"Up sails, and out oars," exclaimed Peridian gleefully.

All I could do was just stand there and grin as the dwarves pitched in.

"And our nose northward!" that was Beardstead.

"Running for home! Narnia and the north!" That was Grimsby.

"And the prince waking the next morning and finding his birds flown!" Peridian couldn't contain his excitement any longer and clapped his hands together.

… **.Section Break…**

Susan's expression had completely changed. She jumped up, grabbed Tumnus in a bear hug and started dancing in circles with him. "Oh, master Tumnus! Dear master Tumnus, you have saved us all!"

I hated to ruin the moment but I had to point something out. "Um, guys, they're probably going to chase us the next day"

Edmund looked pretty happy when he replied. "That is the least of my worries, I have seen all the shipping in the river and there is no tall ship of war or swift galley there. I wish he may chase us! For the _Splendor Hyaline_ could sink anything he has to send after her if we were overtaken at all."

The raven had one more thing to say. "Sire, you shall hear no plot than the faun's thought we sat in council for seven days. And now, as we birds say, nests before eggs. Which is as much as to say, let us take all our food then at once be about our business."

With that, everyone went their separate ways. We stood aside as Edmund and Susan went out first. Peridian and the dwarves also headed out to, as I found out later, start the preparations. Tumnus went in to tell Shasta the news while Edmund and I went into another room to get some practice. Edmund left me for a few minutes and returned with some mail, two bastard, or hand-and-a-half swords, and a couple helmets.

"Uh Edmund, shouldn't those be wooden practice blades and not metal."

"I wish they could, my young friend, but I am afraid we don't have the time. You need to be used to the weight. When we are safely away, well go back to the practice ones. Now, I'm going to do some basic attacks and show me what you can do." At this point, we had all our gear on.

I expected it to be heavy since I was a beginner, but for some reason, it was just light enough for me to move like I needed to. Ed started by swinging at my right side. As soon as I blocked, he spun around and went to my left. It was so fast, though I barely saw it I still managed to block it. I knew he wasn't done yet and sure enough, the next stroke was a straight overhead chop. It was then I pulled the one move that I had actually memorized. I brought my blade up in the typical overhead block, except for one thing. Instead of having my right palm facing me, I rolled my right hand over so my palm was facing down. When I felt his blade strike, I twisted my blade just enough to make his glance off and then brought a downward swipe at his leg.

For a moment there was a perplexed look on Edmund's face and then he burst out laughing. "Very good, Jacob. I did not see that coming. Where did you learn that?"

"Uh, I kind of came up with it myself. There's actually a couple others that I did, but I don't know if they'll work. There isn't really anyone to practice with so I pretty much take what I see others doing and try to find what would logically work. Does that help?"

"Yes it does, Jacob. I am surprised. It is slightly unusual, but it seems to be working for you. Now let's see what else you've got."

We spent the next thirty minutes practicing and by the time we finished I was exhausted. Edmund noticed and decided to call it. "I think it is time to stop. You did rather well. We have to be alert tonight so you should get some rest." 'Thank you, Edmund. I've always wanted to learn how to swordfight and I'm finally getting to do it." With that, I went in and collapsed on the couch. I saw Shasta sitting there and the fact that he didn't look worried barley registered in my tired mind. The next thing I remember was that beautiful black curtain of sleep.

…

 **As always, read and R-E-V-I-E-W!**

 **Anyone else looking forward to Black Panther? And then its' finally here, it's INFINITY WAR! Alright everyone, catch you next time!**


	7. Schemes, Escapes, and a Tight Spot

**Previously on** _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles,**_ **our band made it into Tashbaan with a solid and effective plan. Everything went well until Shasta was mistaken for Prince Cor and in his panic, convinced king Edmund that Jacob had saved him from a group of bullies. King Edmund took both back to the palace. Upon realizing what prince Rabadash intended to do, they contrived a plan of escape and mad the preparations. We catch up with them the next morning.**

…

By the time I woke up, it was evening and Tumnus was shaking me awake. As I pulled myself awake, I could Edmund put some things into a bundle.

"Oh, good knight. What's going on?" "It's time to go down to the boat, Jacob. You've been asleep for four hours now" "If it's that late in the day we probably need to get going."

A slight grin cracked the faun's face, undoubtedly some needed humor. "Susan, Peridian, Beardstead, and Grimsby are already on the ship and everyone is getting ready to go down now."

"Alright, thanks, Tumnus. I probably need to change clothes."

"Once we get on the ship, friend. For now, we need to go." As we walked down to the harbor, we were all rather nervous that someone would stop us and we might not get out of the city. Once we got off the main road, everything got dirtier and grimier. The poverty was atrocious and it made me happier than ever that I lived in America. I wanted to comment on it, but I figured we probably needed to get a look at the city in case something happened and we had to escape.

We had to go through the wall again and even at this point the walls were incredibly thick and there were just as many guards as the main gate. Again, I had to give points for security. The docks weren't much better. Giant wood warehouses lined the docks and were surrounded by bales and boxes. Men scurried around moving and shifting goods between ships.

Then I caught sight of the _Hyaline_. I could see some Spanish in her lines and she looked about 100 feet long. I didn't see any guns on deck but I expected that. A couple of the people gave us momentary glances but didn't make anything of it. Apparently, the plan was working so far, and I was incredibly glad for it. I might get home after all. We went below decks as if we were going to prepare for the feast and once we reached the deck everyone let out a sigh of relief.

I was the first one to speak. "Oh my gosh! We actually made it. I would let out a yell of gratitude if I could." Edmund gave just about as loud a laugh as he could. "I would too, my young friend. However, you and the Corin need to stay below decks. Peridian, you and the crew go about offloading some of the supplies as if to make room and I will take a couple men and start putting the tables together. Remember, our chances rely on us making this as convincing as possible." "Of course, sire. Right away." Edmund stopped him for a minute. "Oh and Peridian. We're not in front of anyone, so call me Edmund. Peridian grinned and bowed as he left. "Yes, Edmund."

There's not much to describe. By the time we finished all the preparations, it was pretty late in the night and most of the dock workers had gone home. Everyone else was working and Shasta and I were laying in a couple of hammocks. At least, since I was asleep during the switch – out, I had no idea what had happened.

Cor was about to let me in on this little fact. "Jacob, there's something I need to tell you."

"Sure, what's up Shasta?"

"Uh, I'm not Shasta Jacob. You fell asleep before Shasta and as he was starting to nod off I climbed up over the windowsill into the room. Unfortunately, I knocked a vase over and woke him. You must be a deep sleeper to go through something like that."

… **Section Break…**

I looked at Corrin cross-eyed for a minute. "Yeah, if I'm not wakened up before a certain point, I'm pretty much dead to everything. This was probably the one time it wasn't a good idea."

Corrin nodded his head in agreement. "Most likely. Anyway, he filled me in on everything that's happened so far. Are you really from another dimension where we are all mentioned in books?"

I grimaced a little as I nodded. Why did Shasta have to tell him _**that part!**_ I mean, seriously. I continued. "Yeah, I'm really from another world and yes, all of you are mentioned in a book series. Although considering the author lived nearly 60 years before me, he didn't know this would be happening. That's why I'm not in the books. So Shasta told you everything that's happened so far, huh."

Corrin nodded. "Yes, they did. Seeing as King Edmund and the rest of our party don't know I don't believe we should tell them right now."

"I hate to admit this, but you're probably right man. We need to tell Ed privately and we can't exactly get that here." Cor nodded. "Ok. That's what we will do.

Ok, before I go any farther with my journey let's take a quick detour and find out what happened to Shasta, as well as Aravis and the horses. If you've already read the books they have a pretty good understanding of what's coming, so you can probably skip ahead a little if you want to. Or those of you who haven't read or just want to see how close they are to reality, follow along.

While Ed and the rest of our gang were busy readying the ship and waiting for nightfall, Shasta made his way out to the tombs. As I would find out later, he saw Aslan twice.

Aravis and the horses didn't show up for a while, so just as he had gathered up some fruit and was getting ready to cross the desert alone, the horses and Aravis arrived. The bad part was Aravis had been cleaned up and the horses were being led by another man and all had proper tack and saddles. Shasta thought they had been captured, so he hid behind one of the tombs and waited for them to come over. As soon as they did, he ran up and asked what had happened.

Turns out, after Shasta and I had been escorted away Aravis and the horses had just stood there. Obviously, the horses couldn't do anything other than act dumb or they would never have gotten out of there and Aravis might run the risk of being recognized. A couple minutes later, one of Arvis's friends, Laurasarleen, came by on a litter. Aravis commandeered it and herself as well as the horses were safe for the time being. It took a little convincing but Laurasarleen agreed to help her. Aravis would be dressed as a high-ranking slave and they would go straight through the Tisroc's private garden to the river, and there Aravis and the horses could make it out of the city to the tombs.

… **Section Break…**

It was apparently easy going until they had to go through the old palace, the last obstacle before the river. Laurasarleen forgot the route and they ended up in a dark corridor. Unfortunately, just as Laurasarleen remembered the way, the men started walking back down the corridor holding candles. As Aravis would explain to me later, the only people who had that much attention given to them was royalty. She would also explain to me that the penalty for interrupting a private procession like the one they ran into was punishable by death. Wonderful. So, they did the only thing they could do, ducked into a room, closed the door and hid behind the couch hoping no one would come. Actually, it was a good idea. The only real problem was that they heard the door opening, which meant they were stuck. Oh, the irony. I say ironically because the little tidbit they were about to discover would end up saving Archenland. But if they were caught, then they were dead. See what I mean, irony. As tempted as I am to give you the conversation word for word, I didn't hear it directly. And we already went through that with the escape plan.

Basically, the Tisroc's son, Rabadash, was wanting to take over Archenland and eventually use that as a foothold to invade Narnia itself. The Tisroc wanted the same thing but hadn't acted on it because he saw no opportunity for an exit strategy. Having an exit strategy, as I would later learn the hard way, is the difference between a battle plan and a suicide mission. So I guess I have to give them credit for that. Anyways, Rabadash basically intended to sneak up to Archenland overnight, capture it and then proceed to Narnia, beating Susan and her company to Cair Paravel. Since Peter and most of the men were up north fighting the giants, the company left at Cair Paravel would be easily subdued. Rabadash would then kidnap Susan and take her back to Calormene. Once that was done, the next step would be to forge letters convincing them Susan wanted to stay there. Since the Tisrock would now have Archenland, he could bide his time and invade Narnia at his first opportunity. I have to admit, it was pretty good. Bloodcurdling, devious, scheming, conniving, but brilliant. The two of them managed to stay hidden until the Tisrock and Rabadash left

After the scoundrels had left, Aravis and Larsen finished the rest of the plan. Getting Bree and Whin properly saddled and tacked, they made their way out to the tombs and met up with Shasta. Aravis and the horses were worried when they heard what had happened with me and the real prince. As Shasta would later tell me, they had all agreed that they were glad I had made it on the boat and I had a shadow of a chance to get home. The next thing they did was compare notes and, predictably, decided to get across the desert as quickly as possible.

The actual trip was pretty much like you would expect it. Hot, dangerous, and utterly exhausting. The raven was right though, the ravine was impossible to find unless you were looking for it. The trickle of water coming from the bottom soon turned into a river and everybody stopped to take a splash. I don't think they intended too, but the heatstroke made them sleep a whole day. Unknown to them, Rabadash and his men had just made it across the desert and were right behind them. They didn't actually find this out though until after they had resumed their journey.

… **Section Break…**

Everybody was just kind of plotting along rather lazily when Hwin looked back. There were silvery flashes and what looked like a flock of…something coming. Some of the things were holding tall sticks that had pieces of cloth flapping in the wind.

Bree squinted for a moment before his eyes flared as wide as saucers in recognition. "It's, it's – the army! What was I thinking earlier? I should have known they would be right behind us."

Hwin gave an indagated snort. "this is exactly what I was afraid of. What good are we dead?" Aravis answered the question. "We're not. Come on! We have to hurry, the fate of Archenland and our lives is back there." With that, the horses took off. It had to have been incredibly grueling, running with no idea of how far it was to Anvard, the castle, and King Lune. One hill after another rose up and passed and the only thing beyond that was another hill!

Since Rabadash and his troop of horsemen were walking and hadn't seen them, the gang was making some headway. Until a lion showed up. By this point, they had gained a couple miles on the army. The lion sneaked quietly out of the bushes and with a roar, jumped out, and went after

When and Aravis. Bree, ironically, had one phobia. Yep, you guessed it, lions.

Bree bolted, taking Shasta with him. Shasta incredibly was trying to get Bree to go back. I think Bree would have if it was something else. But phobias can be pretty hard to deal with. Aravis was frantically trying to get the stupid scimitar out of its scabbard and at the ready. It was stuck. The lion, unfortunately, was not. The animal lept up. What made it weird though, was that it didn't kill her like you would expect (duh!), but merely scrapped her back.

Shasta, meanwhile, was having pathetic luck with Bree. Since he couldn't get the horse to even slow down, he put his foot out of the stirrup AND JUMPED OFF! Oy! What he did next, although stupid, was frankly kind of awesome. He staggered back to Aravis and Hwin and _SCOLDED_ the lion. Like a dog! According to Aravis and Hwin, he yelled something like, "Go home! Go home!" Seriously, Shasta! You have a death wish or something! What can I say, we're all one slightly whacked group. And to top it all off, the thing actually worked. The lion flipped and tromped off into the bushes. Hwin was scared and Aravis was bleeding rather badly. Bree must have gotten his fear under him because he was coming back

"Come in! Come in immediately! They all looked up to find the new voice and their view landed on the green wall of a hermitage and a hermit standing at the gate. That probably would have come in handy earlier. And with that, the four of them gratefully limped in.

Okay, let's shift attention back to the rat pack on the _Splendor Hyaline_. Everyone except the night watches pretty much conked out. Hey, can you really blame us? Oh man, the stress relief once that boat got out on the water and away from Tashbaan. There were a couple times that night when we could have told Edmund what really happened, but none of them panned out. Peridian was piloting the ship. While Grimsby and Beardstead took turns at lookout duty in the mast.

For some reason, I slept deep and got up early. I laid there for a half hour trying to go back to sleep. No luck. I finally decided to head out to the deck quickly and get a bit of air before waiting for the others to wake up. When I got out on the deck, I found Edmund standing there. As I turned around to head back inside, I heard him speak up. "Don't go yet. I could use another match to get some anxiety out. Besides, I have a hunch we will be at war with Rabadash soon, and if you don't get home before then. Well, I don't think I have to finish."

"no man, you don't. Alright then, shall we get to bruising ourselves?"

Edmund laughed as he turned around. "Yes indeed. And thank you, Jacob. Times like these call for laughter whenever possible. We got about 45 minutes in while the sun finished its morning ascent.

… **Section Break…**

By the time the sun finished rising, we were pulling into the harbor at Cair Paravel. The place was nothing short of incredible. Beautiful, gorgeous, call it whatever you want. Since we had snuck out of Tashbaan, there weren't many people on the deck and most of them were dockhands unloading a merchant ship.

We had all gathered at the railing as the ship pulled in. Edmund was standing in the middle with Susan on his left. Corrin was between them, with Peridian and I on Edmund's right. When they saw the royal flagship, most of them stared for a minute before recognizing the ship and one of them ran into the dock master's office. A couple minutes later he came from behind the building and took off full gallop towards the castle.

Edmund gave a slight chuckle as I observed the spectacle. "Well, they definitely know we're here now. All heck is probably going to break loose as soon as we get off this boat."

Peridian looked at me with a grin. "There's no doubt about that now." Beardstead and Grimsby had joined us at the rail and Grimsby spoke up with his lisp. "Aye, although considering what's likely going on in Tashbaan right now, we should probably get Corrin home as soon as possible.

The conversation was temporarily halted as Edmund and Peridian pulled the gangplank into place that had been lifted up by a couple dockhands. Edmund gestured to Susan and she led the way, followed by Edmund, then Peridian and then Corrin.

When I stood back to let Grimsby and Beardstead go first, Susan looked back at me. "Why aren't you up here?"

"Uh, shouldn't the royalty go first?"

"Oh, nonsense. I'm only formal like that with the court and all that rot. Any friend of Cor's is a friend of ours. Come on up here with us."

"Ah…w-what? Wow! I-I don't know what to say."

"Thank you would do nicely"

"Thank-you!" With that, we walked off the gangplank, past the dockhands that had lined up, and started the relatively short walk toward the castle.

There was a slight hill between the dock and the town. Beyond that, you could see the path that wound up toward Cair Paravel. As we started through the town, we could see the people lining up along the road and in the distance, a column of horses exited the main castle gate and started toward the town. Edmund, Susan, and Peridian acknowledged the crowd with a random nod or wave.

Just after we cleared the last buildings, the column met up with us. I knew I would run into centaurs at some point, but actually seeing was still kind of shocking. There were two of them up front with heralds and full armor. There were two columns, six each, behind them. The first three in each row were leading horses. The whole column stopped, and the centaurs gave as best a bow they could.

The one on our right spoke up first. "Your majesty, you have our utmost apologies for not giving you a proper greeting."

Edmund was the one to reply. "No need to apologize, Destrier. You had no way of knowing"

"Thank – you. Who is your friend?"

"This is Jacob Oliver. He aided Cor fending of some bullies in Tashbaan. He's not from around here. Right now, we need some horses and provisions for a trip to Archenland.

… **.**

 **As, always, hope you enjoyed reading and don't forget to REVIEW! Thanks for reading and I'll catch you next time!**


	8. Of Cair Paravel and aid for Archenland

**Previously on** _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ **, Jacob and the group on board the Splendor Hyaline safely snuck out of Tashbaan and landed at Cair Paravel. Shasta and the rest of the group also made it safely through Tashbaan. Aravis and her friend Laurasarleen however, overheard a dastardly plot by Prince Rabadash. The scheming Prince planned to take Archenland by surprise and then invade Narnia itself. The clock is unwinding, and time is running out.**

…

Destrier gave a firm nod and we all mounted up. "Ah Phillip, good to see you." The horse nodded back. "You too. Although, I dare say I'm the gladder. We were getting worried." "No need for that old friend." Edmund laughed as he mounted.

Before we started, the horse next to him spoke up, and this one had a distinctly feminine voice. "And I am glad to see her highness as well." Susan grinned ear-to-ear. "And it is no small pleasure to see you Florence." Susan gave Florence a brief hug before she mounted up.

Destrier and the other centaur took the lead, with Edmund and Susan behind them. Next in row were Peridian and I followed up with the dwarves and finally Cor.

After we had mounted up, the column started back toward the castle. Even from the town, I could tell it looked rather impressive. But up close, though, wow. One word. Absolutely, positively, incredible! Ok, that's three. Anyways, it was really hard not to stare in awe as we walked through the main gate. The path was long enough that Edmund had a couple minutes to converse with the centaurs. Halfway through the conversation, I heard the centaurs nearly shout in surprise. "Surely not! You don't think they would actually do it!" I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation since they were speaking too low. Although if I had to guess, they were probably talking about what to bring.

There were actually two gates. The first opened up to what looked like the beginning of an orchard. White birches were lined up directly along the main path and behind them, apple trees were stacked six or seven rows deep. And to top it all off, a giant fountain was in the middle. The path gradually split to go around each side, and park benches were set up at the four compass points. The whole garden was shaped like a giant square and the wall had a little bit of formality to it since this was a formal garden. It still looked like it could take a pretty substantial attack though. Each corner had a round tower with plenty of arrow slits and looked about seventy to eighty feet across. My marveling was interrupted as we went through the second gate.

This second gate was much thicker and had nothing but grim functionality to it. The wall was taller and thicker. The arrow slits were larger and this wall had ballistae on top. The actual gate had a huge oak door with six giant steel bands and behind that was the portcullis. It was nearly as beefed up as the door. The second courtyard was half as big as the first and was fairly crowded with servants, staff, some soldiers, and a couple horses being led into the stables. When we pulled into this one, Edmund called stop and the column came to a halt.

Edmund spoke up as soon as the column stopped. "Destrin, how long will it take to assemble the army? We must come to Archenland's aid." Well, now I knew who the second centaur was.

"If we had known two or three hours sooner, we could be on our way now. With the late notification, though, I'm afraid it will take the afternoon. I doubt we'll be able to start until morning."

Edmund furrowed his brow in thought for a minute. "Very well, then. Have the force assembled as quickly as possible. We'll head to bed early tonight and get up at dawn. That should put us in Archenland soon enough to meet Rabadash."

I didn't really want to interrupt, but I thought I needed to. "Um, Ed? Can I…ah…ask a question?"

… **Section Break…**

"What, don't be silly! Of course, you can. Oh, wait, that should have been one of my first thoughts. You were going to ask where you need to be right?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not trying to slow you down."

"Jacob you're my friend, you couldn't possibly slow down!"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now, the best person to ask would be Aslan himself. Since he's not here right now, the only other person I can think of is the Hermit of The Southern Marsh. Oh no. That's going to be a problem."

"What's going to be a problem? He's not…south. Oh, nuts. That's definitely a problem."

That was the first time I remember using that phrase. I guess it's kind of become a habit, or catchphrase if you want to call it that. Especially when someone's trying to kill me. My life's wonderful, isn't it?

"Oh, fudge. You're going to have to come anyway since the hermit lives on the north slope of the pass." Edmund let out a slight sigh. "Very well then. Destrian, get Jacob here a horse and some chain mail. And one of my spare swords. Bring it to the inner training grounds."

Destrian and I both looked shocked for a minute. "Yes sir, right away."

The centaur turned and trotted toward one of the many passages. His brother had already left, I figured to start gathering the troops.

As Edmund and I were dismounting, Susan took the chance to speak up. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I'm going off to find our sister. It's been nice getting to know you, Jacob. I'll see you at lunch."

"Thanks. Same to you" Susan threw her brother a slight grin. "Now Edmund, don't scare him off. After all, we just met him yesterday."

Edmund chuckled "Yes sister." With that, Susan dismounted and walked off toward the main castle body.

Phillip gave a snort. "Well, I do believe Florence and I will get some oats."

As I watched the horses head off toward the stables, I heard Beardstead speak up behind me.

"Ay. If your majesty doesn't mind, I believe my brother and I will head to the bathhouse."

Edmund let out a low chuckle. "I don't blame you. I believe I will take one myself. But first, it's time for Jacob and me to get some practice in."

"We'll see you at lunch them" In case I didn't mention this before, dwarves usually ride Shetland ponies or other miniature horses. Although, Narnian miniatures weren't that much smaller than regular horses.

"Edmund, Corrin? Oh, thank Aslan, you're safe! Now, where is this young man I've heard about?" Lucy had come running out and virtually tackled her brother in a giant hug. Then she did the same thing to me. Hey, that's Lucy for you. One big, bubbling pot of happiness.

Corrin had been quiet through all this. At this point, it pretty much stopped. "Edmund, can I join you."

"Why of course, Prince Corrin. Although I thought you would want a bath as well."

Corrin had the most hilariously disgusted face I've ever seen. Bugged out eyes, jaw clear to the floor. Oh man, that was good. I could tell Edmund was teasing him.

There was no containing it anymore and I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry Corrin. Oh, dude, if you could have seen your face. I so wish I had a camera right now!"

Corrin's look went from horrified to confuse. "Camera?"

"Oh, sorry. You don't have those here." Edmund just rolled his eyes. "I don't know who is worse, you or him."

"Oh, nutmeg. Let's just get to the training"

… **Section Break…**

I followed Edmund and Corin through a dizzying number of turns and hallways. We finally came out to a slightly smaller courtyard that was much squarer. This one had training dummies and a couple weapon racks. Judging by the lack of archery targets, this one had to be for close quarters weapons and training. Corrin grabbed one of the swords off the rack. By the time I finished looking around, Destrian was returning with the swords.

Once we had the swords, Edmund paused for a minute to see if I was ready. "You remember where we left off yesterday?"

"Yeah, we finished the blocking sets didn't we?"

"Very good. Now, show me what you've learned."

I didn't get the chance to reply because he came to me with a vertical swing. I stepped to the side and went into a spin, let Edmund's sword glance off my block, and finished the spin with my blade pressed against his side. Edmund wasn't done yet. When he glanced at my block, he immediately stepped back and came into his own block. I countered by using the block to reverse direction and come up with a diagonal arc toward his neck. I thought I had him for a minute, but nope, he was too quick. His blade came up in a side block directing my strike straight down, and he finished by giving a light punch to my gut and spun around with the sword pointed at me.

"Good, good. Much better."

We kept at it for another twenty minutes, stopping twice to catch our breath and cool off. After that, we pretty much just mixed it up, including a couple free for all matches. I didn't do too badly. Although, having a real sword come at you, dull or not, tends to be a strong motivator.

I squinted from some sweat in my eyes as I heard someone come up behind us. The voice was new to me, so it was someone I hadn't me. Edmund saved me the trouble of seeing who it was. "Thank you, Clarise. Tell my sisters we'll be in for lunch shortly."

"Yes, your majesty. Right away." I heard Clarise's footsteps lessen as she disappeared inside.

"Alright Ed, _now_ can we take a break?"

Ed had another smug grin on his face. "Yes. Besides, you've done very well today. You deserve it. Although, I think we should change shirts first. We are kind of covered."

I looked down and saw the front of our shirts drenched in sweat. "Covered in wha… Oh, sweat. Yep. We should probably change shirts."

I started to put my sword on the rack when Edmund put his hand on the pommel and stopped me. "Oh no. This one is yours."

I don't remember it, but Edmund later told me my jaw dropped and my eyes almost popped out when he said that.

"Wait, what! You're really giving this to me?"

"Of course, I'm giving it to you. I have others."

"Th–thank you. You have no idea how cool this is."

"I think I'm beginning to. We should get going. Oh, and I expect you to wear that. Get used to the weight, and all that rot."

"Ok. I will." Edmund gave me a friendly clap on the back as we headed inside.

… **Section Break…**

The dining hall was awesome. The whole thing was a giant rectangle with marble floors. Huge columns were set two feet in from the wall and lined the entire room. The table was a hundred feet easy.

There were a fair amount of people scattered around the room and centaurs had taken up guard positions around the room. I could tell the armor wasn't formal, by any means, but it was so polished and buffed you almost couldn't tell. I nudged Edmund before we got too far into the room.

"Uh, Ed, isn't there a seating protocol or something like that I need to use?"

"I was just getting ready to tell you that. Stay here for now. Since we've got to be formal, I'll introduce you and then motion for you to come out. I'll let you know where to sit."

"Ok. Thanks, that helps a lot."

I exhaled a relieved sigh and looked around at the gathered crowd. I could see a couple jugglers here and there, along with minstrels strolling as they sang and a centaur standing guard in each of the room corners. Edmund was across the room talking to some lords, at least that was my hunch. Cor and the dwarves were scattered around the room.

"Well, fancy meeting you here? Has my sister crushed you in a hug yet?"

I turned around to see Susan behind me. "What, oh. No, not yet. She went after Ed in the courtyard. Although considering my story has probably spread by now, I'll be looking."

"Hmm. Good idea"

"Well, now! Is this the lad we have to thank for saving Corrin from that pack of bullies?"

Susan nodded toward the man. "Jacob, this is lord Festus of the Lantern Waste province."

"Um, it's a pleasure to meet you Lord Festus."

"Bah, the pleasure is mine. And please, just Festus. We're all rather loose when we're in here."

I could feel the grin spreading across my face. "I get that impression."

I think Susan was about to say something, but we all got interrupted when I heard someone pounding on the floor. It was a wonder that the floor tiles weren't smashed. Turns out it was one of the centaurs announcing the meal. "If the lords, ladies, and guests would make their way to the table, our meal is ready." I heard some whoops around me, so apparently I wasn't the only one starving. Go figure. I tell you, I would have loved to watch everyone crowd the table from the air. Probably looked like a bunch of nutty squirrels in a feeding frenzy. Anyways, after everybody sat down, Susan and Edmund stood up and addressed the table. They also did the whole tap-the-fork-on-the-glass routine.

Susan spoke up first. "Lords, ladies, and honored guests, it is a profound joy to be back in Narnia after our timely trip to Tashbaan. While I will not bore you with the details, there is one instance, and it's instigator, I wish to relate. During our stay in Tashbaan, Prince Cor was set upon by a group of bullies. While the prince was making great headway in fighting them off, one of our guests came to his aid in a selfless act of courage. I would like to honor him now. Jacob Oliver, would you please stand up."

"Ah…I…It would be an honor, your majesty." I could feel the sweat puddling in my palm and the heat building up under my shirt collar. Somehow I managed to stand up and reply without making an idiot of myself.

… **Section Break…**

"As a reward for aiding Prince Cor, my brother and I have decided to bestow the title of squire upon you. Please, come forward."

My mouth hung there for a second before I shook my head and forced my frozen body to move. I spanned the six seats between Susan and me and kneeled down.

Edmund had moved to the opposite side of Susan and had his right hand on his sword hilt. "Jacob Oliver. For the valiant aid on behalf of Prince Corin and aid on our journey here, I appoint thee as squire to King Edmund. May you serve Aslan and Narnia with honor."

"Thank you. I-I won't disappoint you." They both looked at me and I could swear I saw them both wink subtly. "We don't believe you will." With the formality out of the way, I walked back to my place and sat down.

The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful. I talked to a few people, but I was still dazed from what had just happened. There wasn't much I could talk about anyways without raising suspicion. Festus turned out to be pretty cool and asked if he could show me some techniques later.

After dinner, Edmund showed me how to get to my room. Just as he was about to leave, I caught him before he could leave. "Hey Edmund, could I talk to you in private for a minute, it's something important." "Of course. And just call me Ed" "You sure?" "Very sure." It took a couple minutes to get through all the corridors to the study.

When we got there, Ed stopped long enough and told the guard not to let anyone disturb us before closing and latching the door behind us. "So what is it that's so important?" "Um, well, I don't really know how to say this without making Shasta and I look like spies or something." "Well, are you?" "What, oh no! No, no, no, absolutely not! Never in a million years!" Why don't you just start by spitting it out? And I won't ask questions or anything until you tell me you're done. Deal?" My face must have looked tense because I saw Ed sport a lopsided grin.

…

 **Thank you for reading and DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	9. Secrets Revealed and Pride Diminished

Chapter Eight

"Well ok. So, first, off I'm not from around here. I'm, ah, not even from this dimension, or world, for that matter. I ended up in this dimension on accident and don't know how to get back. That's part of the reason why I was so relieved when you allowed me to come with you. Anyways, I had been on a camping trip when I came through and when I saw the firelight of Shasta's campfire, I thought it was the one from my camp and went over to investigate. Come to find out, it wasn't my camp. That's when I ran into Shasta, Aravis, Aravis's horse Hwin, and Bree. Arvis was running away from a forced marriage, and Shasta, well, let's just say his dad wasn't the best. Anyways we journeyed north until we made it to Tashbann. That was when everything went wrong. Shasta and I got separated from the others, ending up in the front row. Of course, since Shasta looked exactly like Prince Cor, you thought he was. Anyways, Shasta thought we had been caught and that made him panic and come up with the story of me helping him fend the bullies off.

"Shasta and I both went in and laid down on the couches. We accidentally overheard you. Look, man, I'm sorry we were listening to a private conversation, but we didn't know how to cross the desert. And then when I heard you guys talking about how tight a situation you were in, I realized if you have captured my chances of getting to Narnia, much less home, would be gone. I asked Mr. Tumnus if he knew anything about portals. That's why we came in to talk to you, he was going to ask you if you had any idea. Then we got caught in the whole escape planning and well, there you go. After we finished the conversation I went back in and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, Cor had come back and apparently he and Shasta had swapped places. When he had a chance to pull me aside he told me that Shasta had filled him in on everything. He also said Shasta said to tell me that he had overheard the directions to get through the desert and he was going to set out for Narnia after he met up with Aravis and the horses. Cor and I both agreed it was probably best to wait until we were outside of Tashbann to tell you. I've been looking for a chance to tell you guys. Please don't think we were intentionally trying to hide anything, I was just scared and didn't know what to think. I mean, I was trying to find a time to tell you and before I knew it we were in port and my chance was gone. So yeah, that's it. I don't blame you if you want to throw me out or something. Oh, and this is going to sound even crazier but you, your siblings, and Narnia itself are all characters in a book where I come from." Edmund didn't answer right away, which had me getting nervous.

… **Section Break…**

He silently walked over and opened the door before speaking to the guard. "Could you tell Cor we wish to talk to him on a personal matter?"

"Right away, your majesty." Edmund closed the door and sat down on the couch across

from me. I wanted to say something but all the words died in my throat.

A couple minutes later Cor came in. "What's the fuss, Ed, I was… Cor stopped when he saw the look on my face and stared for a minute before he realized what he was called in for.

Ed cleared his throat and spoke up before Cor or I could say anything. "Now before either one of you says anything, you're not in trouble and Jacob, you don't have to worry about anything happening. Now, I'm not mad at you for not telling me what you were really doing in Tashbaan. I should be, but no one in their right mind would be mad considering the situation you were in.

"Now, the reason why I closed the door is that visitors from another world is a rather touchy subject. The main reason is that… Wait a minute, didn't you mention we're characters from a book in your world. So you know what I'm talking about, right."

"Wait, what? Oh, you mean when Digory and Polly accidentally brought Jadis here from Charm. Yeah, I know which one you're talking about. Oh man, I'm so sorry Ed, I should have thought of that."

"Jacob, really, it's fine. Don't worry about it, I would probably feel the same way if I was in your shoes. You've been through quite a shock already."

"So what now, man?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to do it in here so we wouldn't be worried about someone hearing us."

"Thanks, man, I appreciate it, Ed. Hey Cor, you haven't said a thing this whole time. What are you thinking."

Cor gave a slight shrug. "Not much. I was actually going to have us tell Edmund sometime tomorrow. Although, I am rather glad we told him now. I was really starting to not like hiding this from him."

Ed gave us all a satisfied nod before ending the talk. "Well, I think that's rather good for tonight. Let's try to get plenty of sleep tonight. It'll take a while to saddle up and organize the army, especially if we want to beat Rabadash."

And there you go people, that's Ed for you. The guy always has to remind us what's facing us next.

… **Section Break…**

With the conversation out of the way, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The night brought a much deeper sleep than I expected. There was still some fitfulness although, I expected that was because my subconscious was still slightly shocked by this whole ordeal.

I had one of the most pleasurable wake-ups calls imaginable. A bucket of cold water on me. "Ah! New York, Chitahuri, hit the dirt! Uh, what the heck!" I heard a chuckle above me and looked up to see Cor failing to suppress a grin. Then he had the audacity to burst out laughing. "Ha-ha, very funny. Now get out!" "Ok, ok, I'm going. I still think it's slightly funny." "Pushover." I could hear coring laughing as he walked off.

Fifteen minutes later I was ready to go and had my sword belt on. My clothes were pretty grimy when we pulled into Cair Paravel, so they went through the wash the previous day. Narnian shirts are itchy, enough said.

Then I got out into the courtyard. Everyone was getting ready and most of the soldiers plus Beardstead and Grimsby were already mounted up. I stared at the scene for a minute before I heard Susan shout for me.

"Jacob, over here!"

While I waded my way through the few feet separating us, I glanced around to see all the creatures gearing up for the trip. Breastplates, greaves, helmets, sword belts, and quivers hung on saddles. Contrary to what you see in movies, I didn't see any back or hip quivers. I would later find out both of these positions allowed the quiver to bounce around and spill the arrows.

By the time I got over to them, I could see Susan holding the second horse. "What's with the – wait a minute, that's my ride isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Well, are you going to just stand there gawking or mount up."

"What, oh yeah." I gave a grin before swinging up in the saddle. I had a hunch that the air had been gradually changing me, and that's when I confirmed it. Swinging up in the saddle came so easy I almost launched myself out of it. Susan and some of the soldiers nearby grinned and I could hear Ed and Cor chuckle.

Just as I finished settling in the saddle, I saw some of the soldiers and creatures in the crowd parting to allow someone through. It turned out to be a stag, hurrying over to us as quickly as possible.

… **Section Break…**

"Your Majesties! King Edmund, Queen Susan!" The stag, whose name turned out to be Chervy, finally made it over to us. It took a few minutes for the stag to catch his breath. As soon as he could, the stag panted out. "Your Majesties, I have urgent news about that requires a private audience with you immediately! We must hurry!" Edmund waited for the stag to catch a few breaths before he replied. "Of course, immediately. Susan, if you will wait for us, Jacob and I will hear the good stag's proposal." The stag looked hesitant for a minute before nodding. Edmund dismounted, and the soldiers parted to let us through.

We went through one of the doors off the courtyard. Cherry spoke up as soon as the door was closed. "Your majesty, enemies are upon Anvard, Prince Rabadash, and 200 horsemen. A band of my friends and I found a young boy named Shasta. He saw the army himself."

Edmund smiled a bit. "Cherry I already know. Shasta overheard us talking about it when we were in Tashbaan, that's where we found the plot. We're on our way now. You can accompany us if you wish."

"It would be my genuine pleasure.

We walked back out into the courtyard mounted up. With Cherry fidgeting in eagerness, the column moved out of Cair Paravel. Some of the people watched the column as it moved through town. Susan and Ed took the lead with Destrier in between the two of them. Destrian was separated from his brother by two fauns, a saytar, and a couple dwarfs. Beardstead, Grimsby and I brought up the position behind them with the column stretching out behind us. Eventually, we made it out of town and into the rolling hills and bluffs leading away from the ocean.

Within a few minutes though, my mind drifted away from the people and toward my parents and family. The only thing I could think is how much they must be missing me. This was the first chance I really had to stop and think. And I was scared, lost in a different dimension of space itself, and the thought of never making it home twisted my stomach into a knot. There were so many times I nearly cried. I was slowly cracking from the inside on every level imaginable, physically and mentally. I wanted to cry. I was honestly starting to wonder if I was really going to make it home. There was absolutely nothing left in me, so I turned to the only thing I had left a prayer.

… **Section Break…**

Prayer, did that work anymore. I knew that was a stupid answer and that it did, but how could I feel anything else. The concept of another dimension had seemed physically and spiritually impossible. It seemed to violate everything. But I knew I had to try.

"God-God I, just- I just don't know what to do, I'm broken like fragile pottery, I feel like I'm being pounded into the ground with huge boulders. My bones turned into dust and my body into pulp. Broken, cracked, I'm surrounded by a situation that I see no way out of. I see no path home. I can't comprehend how I even got here or how I'm going to make it out. Give me the strength to continue on because I have nothing left. You know I'm scared of heights and I freeze up even when I'm acting. Yet I'm going to end up in an actual battle. God, I'm so scared, just please, give me your strength, a superhuman strength. I don't know what else to say."

The weight on my shoulders lifted. It was far from complete, but it was enough. My thoughts turned to Shasta, Bree, Whin, and Aravis. What were they doing, and more importantly, what were they going through? They had to have been worried stiff about me, wondering if I had been captured or worse. Honestly, now is probably a good time to check in on them.

Shasta didn't have a chance to think about how incredibly lucky they were. Instead, he figured it would probably be back at any moment and hustled everyone inside the hermit's compound. Aravis and Whin staggered. Arvis's back was scarred up bad and her shirt was soaked with blood. Aravis would later tell me that they were both visibly shaking, and you could see the fear in Hwin's eyes. Bree had never stopped running and had bolted straight into the hermit's garden, standing just inside the gate. His legs were shaking and he was in so much shock that he barely noticed the others come in. The hermit closed the gate as soon as they were through and comforted them, saying, "come in, come in." Shasta was right behind them, staggering as well and receiving the greeting of, "come in son, come in".

For just a minute, all three were distracted by the beauty of the garden they were standing in. The entire garden was a giant circle, probably 300 yards, with a perfectly round pond. All four of them told me they remembered the water being as still and clear as the smoothest glass. The left end of the pond had a huge weeping willow hanging over the pond. The actual hermit's house was situated between the pond and the back wall of the garden. So low and compact, it came extremely close to looking like a dwarf's house, albeit a larger version. Everyone was so distracted they completely forgot about the hermit for a minute, never noticing the hermit pad up behind them.

… **Section Break…**

Shasta must have heard something because he turned around and asked the hermit, "are you King Lune of Archenland?" Regret and sympathy washed over the hermit's face as he thought of what he had to ask Shasta to do. "No, my son, I regret to tell you I am not." Shasta frowned, and you could see the exhaustion sweep over his face. I don't know if he noticed, but I have no doubt the others were feeling the same way. "I am the hermit of the southern marsh. Now, waste no more precious time on questions, but obey. This damsel is wounded. Your horses are spent. Rabadash is at this moment finding a ford over the Winding Arrow. If you run now, without a moment's rest, you will still be in time to warn King Lune."

Man, I feel sorry Shasta. I would find out how hard it is to be in that position. And yet, all he said was, "where is the king?"

"Look. There is another gate, right opposite the one you entered by. Open it and go straight ahead: always straight ahead, over level or steep, over smooth or straight, over dry or wet. I know by my art you will find King Lune straight ahead. But run: always run."

After Shasta had stumbled out of the gate, the hermit turned his attention toward the horses and Aravis, whose arm he had been supporting since he walked up. Hwin lowered her front legs, so Aravis would be able to dismount easier, and she limped into the house with the hermit's help. The horses were too exhausted to do anything other than stand there. Although a large part of it was the shock of running into a lion.

After what seemed like an eternity, the hermit came out and approached the horses. "Now friends, it's your turn. The horses felt like they were in heaven as they felt the hot, heavy saddles slide off of their sweat-drenched backs. The merit then groomed them down so well, they would have sworn it was the king's personal groomer. The hermit kept grooming as he tried to ease the horse's minds.

"There cousins, dismiss it all from your minds. Here is water and there is grass. You shall have a hot mash when I have finished milking my other cousins, the goats." Hwin managed to gather enough strength to inquire about Aravis. "Sir, will the Tarkheena live? Has the lion killed her?"

The hermit answered with a hint of mirth in his voice. "I who know many present things by my art, have yet little knowledge of things future. Therefore, I do not know whether any woman or man or beast will be alive when the sun sets tonight. But be of good hope. The damsel is as likely to live as any of her age." The horses continued to munch, too exhausted to say anything.

… **Section Break…**

Aravis came around lying on her stomach. It took a minute for her to shake off the grogginess. When she did, stinging pain raced up her back from the scratches. The bed was made of heather and as such, the most comfortable thing she would ever sleep on. She heard the door open with a creak and turned her head to see the hermit softly close the door. The hermit walked over, gently carrying a bowl of mash. When he reached the bed, he asked, "how do you find yourself?"

"My back is sore father, other than that, nothing is wrong with me."

The hermit put the bowl down before feeling her forehead. "There is no fever, you will do well. Indeed, there is the reason why you should not get up tomorrow. But now, drink this."

Slowly but surely, Aravis managed to drink all of the goat milk. "now my daughter, you may sleep when you wish, for your wounds are dressed and though they smart, they smart, they are no deeper than a whip. It must have been a very strange lion; for instead of catching you out of the saddle and sinking his teeth into you, he has only drawn his claws across your back."

Arvis's eyes lit up with shock. "I say, I have had luck!"

"My daughter, I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met anything called luck. There is something about all this that I do not understand. But if we ever need to know it, I assure you we will."

Concern flashed over Aravis's at the thought of Rabadash. "And what of Rabadash and his two hundred horses?"

"They will not pass this way, I think. They must have found a ford well to the east of us. From there they will try to ride straight to Anvard."

"Poor Shasta! Surely he will make it in time." The hermit nodded in assurance "There is a great chance of it."

As Aravis turned over to lay on her side, the hermit looked out the window. Aravis noticed the window getting darker.

"Have I been asleep for a long time? It seems to be getting darker." "This is not the darkness of night. There is a storm approaching. The clouds are falling down from Stromness Head, our foul weather always comes from there in these parts. The fog will be very thick tonight."

… **Section Break…**

The next day after a good night's sleep, she went out to see the horses after a porridge and cream breakfast. The weather had filled the whole garden with a dazzling array of sunlight that made it look like a painting. Hwin noticed Aravis and trotted up to her immediately and gave her a horse-kiss.

They asked about each other's health and sleep before Aravis asked about Bree. "Where is Bree?"

Hwin ears went slightly back and her version of a frown washed over her face. "Over there. I wish you would come and talk to him. There's something wrong and I can't get a word out of him. When they reached the other side of the garden, they found Bree.

The crazy horse was laying there, with his face toward the wall. There was no way he couldn't hear them coming. Either way, he didn't respond. The guy was being a real jerk.

Despite this, Aravis tried to get a response out of him. "Good morning Bree, how are you this morning?

Bree muttered something, but no one else was ever able to figure it out. Another word for the book of forgotten conversations.

Aravis continued. "The hermit says Shasta probably got to King Lune in time, so it looks like all our troubles are over. Narnia at last, Bree! The next thing Bree mumbled shocked both Aravis and Whin. This time, it was just loud enough for them to hear.

"I shall never see Narnia."

Aravis formed a slight o-shape with her mouth. "Aren't you well, dear Bree?"

Bree turned around, and of course, his face had some weird horse sigh on it. "I shall go back to Calormene." That really shocked them. But then again, how can you blame them.

"What! Back to slavery? Bree, how could you!"

"Yes. Slavery is all I'm fit for. How can I ever show my face among the good horses of Narnia? I who left a mare and a girl and a boy to be eaten by lions while I galloped all could to save my own wretched skin."

"We all ran as hard as we could." That was Hwin.

Bree let out an indignant snort as he defended himself. Actually, he was defending his pride. So there you go. "Shasta didn't! At least he ran in the right direction! And that is what shames me most of all. I who call me a war-horse and boasted of a hundred fights, to be beaten by a little human boy – a child, a mere foal, who had never held a sword nor had any good nurture or example in his life!"

Aravis looked down at the ground. Hwin was doing the same thing, but she couldn't see that.

… **Section Break…**

Aravis was feeling a bit ashamed herself. 'I know, I felt just the same. Shasta was marvelous. I'm just as bad as you, Bree. I've been snubbing and looking down on him ever since you met us and know and now he turns out to be the best of us all. But I think it would be better to stay and say we're sorry than to go back to Calormene."

"It's all very well for you, you haven't disgraced yourself. But I, I've lost everything."

The hermit had come out with some slop when he overheard the conversation and softly walked up. "My good horse, you have lost nothing more than your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great horse you had come to think, living among poor, dumb horses. Of course, you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But if you know you're no one special, you'll be a very decent sort of horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."

Bree just stared at him a minute as his entire argument came crashing down.

"And now, if you and my other four-footed cousin will come around to the kitchen door, we'll see about the other half of that mash."

Shasta had run out of the gate heading straight north. Stumbling would be more accurate. I still cringe somewhat at the thought of the torture it must have put his legs through. There were three times when he nearly twisted his ankle. The terrain started to change, getting thicker, heavily forested with Pine and Hemlock trees. The physical exhaustion was finally catching up with him. Sweat was streaming down his face and running into his eyes

…

 **As always, don't forget to read and review!**

 **Ok, I have to movie alert here, Incredibles 2 is F – A – N – T – A – S – T – I – C! Half the time I wal laughfing and the other half I couldn't breath. Pixar once again delivered their famous blend of deep thought laughter, family friendly, and epic adventure in one. I dare say this might have actually been better than the first one and maybe as good as How To Train your Dragon 1 and 2. Seriously though, if you want a break from all the mind numbing junk out there and you want a movie where you can actually discuss and** _ **think**_ **PLEASE SEE IT! Anyways, yeah, That's my endorsement.**


	10. The Lion Comes

Previously on _The Dragon Rider Chronicles_ Aravis and the horses are safe and sound after their run-in with the lion. But is there more to this golden animal than meets the eye? Aravis and the horses are in for a shock. Shasta was sent out of the gate immediately upon arrival, Shasta being the only chance to warn King Lune in time. Jacob and others, having safe made it to Cair Paravel, have left with the Narnian army to aid Archenland. But will they make it in time? And for that matter, where is Rabadash and his Calormene army?

… **.**

Chapter Nine

The blast of a horn echoed through the forest and in a minute, he came into a glade. There were about fifteen men. All had the nobility stance of lords and, from their green dress, were obviously out on a hunting trip. One of the lords was holding a stirrup for the man who would turn out to be King Lune. Shasta's heavy panting alerted the party to his presence. King Lune had just tensed up to mount when he saw Shasta, his eyes bugged out and his face flushed with surprise. "Corin! My son! On foot, and in rags! What- "Shasta was still panting but interrupted king Lune before he could go any farther "No. Not prince Corrin, I-I-I know I look a lot like him…saw his highness…sends his greetings. Oh." Shasta groaned under his breath. He almost collapsed but stopped himself. 'Are you King Lune? Lord King-fly-Anvard-shut the gates-enemies upon you-Rabadash and two hundred horsemen. One of the lords stepped up and continued questioning Shasta. "have your proof of this?" Shasta nodded his head as he took another breath. "My own eyes. I've seen them. Raced them all the way from Tashbaan" The Lord's eyes went up a little at this. "On foot?" King Lune interrupted. "Question him no more, Darrin. I see the truth in his face. We must ride for it gentlemen. A spare horse there for the boy. You can ride fast, friend?" Instead of answering, Shasta swung up in the saddle. He got a pleasant surprise when he overheard Lord Darrin comment to the king. "the boy has a true horseman's seat, sire. I'll warrant there's noble blood in him." King Lune had a thoughtful look on his face. "His blood, aye, there's the point." He turned his head and the party moved off at a brisk canter. Ironically, this was when the one thing Bree had neglected to show him would have come in handy. Since Bree could talk, there wasn't any need for him to show Shasta how to use the reigns. And well, since this one couldn't talk, the horse slowed down to a walk and putting Shasta at the back of the group. Typical horse.

…

Shasta finally had a chance to relax. His breath had finally come back, and he had succeeded in his mission. The cool air felt delicious on his sweat-soaked skin. He looked up to see if he could find the mountain peaks. To his bitter disappointment, they weren't there. What Shasta didn't realize was that he was actually on top of the range. The fog was from the peak, indicating that he was starting through the pass itself. If I was in his place, I probably wouldn't have realized it either.

With a start, Shasta realized it was a cloud. A grin spread across his face as he thought to himself. "Up here in the hills, one is really in the sky. I shall see what the inside of a cloud is like. I've always wanted to see the inside of a cloud, how fun!"

Shasta's horse had been inching behind with every turn and Shasta could hear the horn being blown every now and then to keep the group together and headed in the right direction. The problem with this was that the horn was sounding farther and farther each time.

Somewhere Shasta had picked up that he had to keep his heels turned out constantly. The idea probably came from Bree no liking his sides nicked with spurs when it could be helped. Shasta didn't want to fall behind, so he decided he had to take a chance and use the spurs. To top it off, he forgot this was a regular horse and started talking to it. Oh, Shasta. 'Come on a horse, come on. If you don't buck it up, do you know what I'll do, I'll sink my heels into you, I really will. Don't test me." Shasta gritted his teeth and went for it. Nothing happened. Granted the horse slightly increased his canter for a few paces and then slowed right back down.

The sun had finally set and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of crickets and a steady drip sound from the dew condensing on the trees. When he rounded the next curve, he was greeted with a split in the road. When he was in the middle of deciding which one to take, he heard the sound of horses galloping and urged the horse down the right-hand road as quickly as possible. He made it around the first bend just in time. He heard the horsemen pull up to a stop.

… **.**

Shasta heard a command of – "halt!" – then the sounds of the column coming to a halt. The same voice continued. "Now attend, all of you. We are now within a furlong of the castle. Remember your orders. Once we are in Narnia you are to kill as little as possible. On this venture, you are to regard every drop of Narnian blood as more precious than a gallon of your own. On this venture, I say. The gods will send us a happier hour and then you must leave nothing alive between Cair Paravel and the Western Waste. But we are not yet in Narnia. Here in the assault on Archenland, it is another matter. In the assault on this castle of King Lune, nothing matters but speed. Show me your mettle. It must be mine within an hour. And if it is, I give it all to you! I reserve no booty for myself. Kill me every barbarian male within its walls, down to the child that was born yesterday, and everything else is yours to divide as you please – the women, the gold, the jewels, the weapons, and the wine. The man I see hanging back when we come to the gate shall be burned alive! In the name of Tash the irresistible, the inexorable, forward!"

To Shasta's great relief, he heard the sound as the column began to move forward. The concept of 200 horses had been talked about, but this was when the idea really started to sear itself into his mind. As scary as the experience had been, it did give Shasta the benefit of knowing which way it was to King's Lune. Once the column had passed and Shasta felt confident it was safe, he resigned himself to the only option he had. Head down the other trail toward Narnia. The trail started to lead onward, through the thicker forest. If Shasta had paid attention, he would have noticed he was going up in elevation. He did notice the fog as it seemed to coalesce around him. The evening had started to fall and the last of the light dropped below the sky.

This was the first real chance Shasta had to think. Totally oblivious and lost in his thoughts, he started muttering out loud to himself. "I do think, that I must be the most unfortunate boy in the whole world. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safely away from Narnia; I was left behind. Aravis and Bree and Whin are all as snug as anything with that old hermit; of course, I was sent on. King Lune and his people must have gotten safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived, but I got left out. Jacob was lucky enough to journey with the Narnian Lords and ladies, in utmost comfort with his safety and security guaranteed; And I'm stuck out here."

To put it simply, he had finally cracked. He didn't have much of a chance to cry because he was scared out of his sobbing. A voice called to Shasta. Because the speaker couldn't be seen throughout the fog, it sounded to Shasta like it was a ghost or disembodied spirit speaking. Shasta couldn't see anything, he could only hear the breathing of something very large next to him. The stories of giants in the northern lands darted to his minds and he clenched his lips in terror.

The silence was maddening. Finally, he could bear it no longer, and asked hesitantly, "who are you?" The voice that responded was a deeply rich and profound baritone. There was an entire range of emotions in the voice. "One who has waited long for you to speak." Shasta stuttered another question. "Are – are you a giant?" The voice replied back. "You might call me a giant, but I am not like the creatures you call giants."

"I can't see you at all." There was a pause as Shasta had the thought that he might be talking to a ghost. "you, you're not something dead, are you? Oh please, oh please don't be something dead. And then, for the second time, he felt the warm breath flow over his face and hands. The voice spoke again. "There, that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me about your sorrow.

When I asked Shasta if he could describe it, he thought about it for a whole day and still couldn't tell me. For whatever reason, Shasta felt an enormous sense of comfort. Over the next couple hours, Shasta told him the whole story. The voice, whatever was behind it, never said anything nor interrupted Shasta.

…

Once Shasta had finished, the voice finally replied. "I do not call you unfortunate." "Don't you think it was unfortunate to meet so many lions?" The voice's next statement left Shasta stunned. "There was only one lion." "What on earth do you possibly mean! I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and" Shasta didn't finish. The voice interrupted him with a depth that seemed to shake the very earth. "There was only one lion: but he was swift of foot." Shasta asked in bewilderment, "How do you know."

"I was the lion. I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the lion who caused Jacob to trip and be brought together with you. I was the cat who comforted you among the house of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals. I was the lion who gave the horses strength for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And, I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at night, to receive you."

Shasta had recovered somewhat from the shock of this revelation. "Then it was you who wounded Aravis?" "It was I" "But why! For what purpose?" The voice spoke again, flowing with empathy. "Child, I am telling you your story. I tell no one any story but their own."

Shasta's mouth had slightly widened in bewilderment. "Who are you," he asked in bewilderment and wonder. The voice in a powerful, yet loving and simple echo. "Myself" The air seemed to shake with power, fading out to whisper and then, it seemed, into nothing. The word kept echoing until it disappeared. Shasta didn't realize it until now, but all fear and apprehension had disappeared.

The fog had faded from black to grey, and grey to white. What he didn't realize was the amount of time that had passed. He had been so caught up in the conversation that he didn't realize was that he had come over the pass in the night. The horse and the surrounding trees were highlighted in the sun. The birds could be heard waking up as they went through their morning routines.

Shasta suddenly saw a brilliant gold light growing brighter off to his right. When he turned his head he saw the most amazing, terrifying, and beautiful sight in his life. A huge golden lion, taller than the horse, walked beside him. Shasta was never quite sure, but he almost could have sworn the lion was floating as he walked.

Shasta gasped at the sight. The horse either didn't see the lion or, for some inexplicable reason the animal wasn't afraid. Without a second thought, Shasta slipped out of the saddle and bowed at the lion's feet. The lion stopped in an instant and bent his head down level with Shasta. "Rise up, it is not me you should be bowing down to, but The One Most High. I am merely a privileged servant. It is Him who has given me the ability to do these things. Continue on your journey, Shasta. He will continue to guide you."

The light itself seemed to collect around the lion, and in a flash of blinding, golden light, the lion disappeared.

…

The Narnian army moved steadily down the road winding through the hills and curves. We had been making pretty good time, considering the size of the army we were moving. The scenery had been gradually changing. After leaving Cair Paravel, the landscape had transitioned from the bluffs along the seacoast to rolling hills and valleys. We had camped overnight outside one of the local towns. And were greeted with a jubilant party of dancing and a short feast. The joy and happiness overflowed everything the Narnians did. The air was palpable with the joy of life and every day and night was lived to its fullest. Edmund and I had been managed to get some sword practice in here and there. I was getting better, but it was going pretty slowly.

The second day had brought us out of the plains and into the forest as we started up toward the pass. Trees started moving from sparse birches to more heavily forested slopes with hemlocks, pines, and blue spruce.

The route took us west from Cair Paravel before hitting the main north-south route that headed north from Tashbann all the way north through Archenland and Narnia before disappearing into the Northern Wastelands.

It was well known that giants had lived in the Northern Wastelands for hundreds of years. The exact history of the giants and whatever other else had lived up there was speculation and myth. It would only take us a couple hours heading south before we reached the cutoff that leads east to Lune's castle.

The cutoff we took was another hour-and-a-half north of the mountain pass fork. With any luck, we would catch Rabadash and his men after they had committed to the attack. By the time we stopped for the night we had made the cutoff. Another two hours riding tomorrow would bring us to Lune's castle. I still didn't want to think about being in an actual battle.

The process of making camp was not only long but rather involved. Beardstead, Grimsby, and I all pitched in to help set up camp.

Somewhere in the middle of all this hastiness, Ed and I found some more time for practice. The best part of the whole session was the fact that I managed to get through it without missing a beat. I don't know if it was me or something in the air, but I think I was finally starting to get over hesitancy. Another discovery, to my great surprise, was the fact that some of the techniques I came up with on my own actually worked. Ed helped me refine them some more, taking out a huge amount of wasted movement and making them much tighter and efficient.

I did receive compliments from Edmund, Susan, and Beardstead that my skills were increasing steadily. Not much comfort, but better than some.

…

The next morning was up before dawn again and on the way. I was getting somewhat used to it, but I still felt groggy as heck. There must have been something in the very air of this world that was beefing me up. All my senses were more alert than normal and the weight of my sword and mail shirt seemed to have disappeared virtually overnight instead of the couple weeks I thought it would take.

By invite, I ended up right in the front column with Edmund, Susan, and Destrier. Peridian took up the Narnian colors leading the column while Destrin, Grimsby, and Beardstead were in the next row back. The rest of the army formed the usual long, winding column behind us. The next hour passed without incident, the column stretching and shrinking as it wound around the bends and myself observing the forest. There was, of course, your usual assortment of forest sights and smells. Squirrels, chipmunks, and birds peeking out and twittering from the branches. What kept reminding me this wasn't normal were the waves and whistles of greetings they let out. There was also the occasional 'hello' and 'good day to ya' thrown in. Fauns and sayers would wave back or nod their heads in acknowledgment and the leopards and Panthers would say 'hi' back. Although, with them, it sounded more like a yowl than anything else. The giants and bears didn't do anything except keep walking.

After a couple hours of this, we came across a dwarf's house nestled in the roots of a very old and ancient looking oak tree. A clearing surrounded the tree like a lawn with flowers and tall grass sprinkled through it. The thing was huge and easily four or five feet across with huge thick roots winding their way into the ground. Two of the main roots crossed over each other to form a perfect doorway with knurls chipped out to hold candle wicks for door lights. The wood had been polished until it shone and "woodland retreat' had been etched in a plank carved out of the crossing roots. A welcome mat woven out of vines and thatch was laid on the front step to complete the look. To finish off the look, the bottom of the step was a round area just large enough to hold a bench large enough for three dwarves.

I heard Peridian sound off the horn again and in a minute I heard the sound of Dwarves sending greetings at the sight of our column coming. They must have been talking about breakfast because I heard Edmund shout out to the column. "Now, friends! Time for a rest and a morsel!" The whole column came to a halt and the whole thing swelled like water filling up a balloon. Everyone split into groups to some extent. The leopards and giants sat down while the men dismounted from their mounts and proceeded to dip into their rucksacks and saddlebags for lunch.

I had just dismounted and taken a giant stretch when I looked down saw Shasta gathered on the bench with a couple dwarves. My jaw dropped a little and I said the only thing that popped into my head. "Shasta! What, how did you" The sentence went unfinished because Cor ran up and interrupted me.

…

I'M BBBBAAACCCKKK! But seriously everyone, I have not abandoned this story in any way, shape, or form. College has been a nightmare lately, so that and the model railroad has been taking up a lot of time. Anyways, I'm going to have a break here in August. I'm hoping (fingers crossed, and the creek don't rise) that I will actually have this sucker done. That would be epic. Anyways, hope you enjoy and God bless! Oh, one other thing. _Avengers Assemble!_


	11. The Storm and What It Revealed

**Previously on** _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ **revealed Shasta had made it safely to warn King Lune in time, only to be separated on the mountain pass. And as if that wasn't enough, the Great Lion, servant of King Jesus appeared to Shasta, Aravis Hwin, and Bree, giving them courage, comfort, and most important, grace. Aravis and the horses are well on the mend thanks to the Hermit. And finally, Jacob and the Narnians ran into an uninvited gest when they stopped for a rest. Shasta! But the danger isn't over yet. The army is closing in on Anvard, Rabadash, and the most brutal thing in existence. War.**

Chapter Ten

"What, you here! So you got through all right? I am glad. Now we shall have some sport. We only got into Cair Paravel yesterday morning and the first person to meet us was Chervy the stag with news of an attack on Anvard. Of course, we already knew about because Jacob caught us up on the journey here and"

Ed had dismounted and was reaching for his own breakfast when he heard the conversation started. Apparently, he thought it appropriate to interrupt before Cor was too deep in his rambling. He cleared his throat just loud enough for us to hear. "Ahem."

Both Cor and Shasta stopped to look at him. I was already looking at him.

"I've already been filled in on the situation Shasta and know neither you nor Jacob had any intention to deceive us. Actually, as far as I'm concerned, you both deserve awards for moving on despite the odds. Unfortunately, that, as well as the rest of your story, will have to wait for another time. Right now we have the vagabond of Rabadash to deal with."

I finally managed to break into the conversation. "Anyways, about breakfast. Do you want to eat with me Shasta? We can get a bit caught up. It's not much, but I don't mind sharing it."

Shasta looked at me a second before grinning. "I would like that."

I think Edmund was about to say something but Destrier caught Ed's sight line and motioned for him to come over. I intended to see if Cor wanted to join me, but the jostling separated us and I was left with Shasta.

"Well, come on man. We might as well have a seat and dig in." A couple minutes and four steps later, we found a spot far enough away from everyone and plopped down.

There wasn't much in the saddlebag. Some bread, mostly dried bacon, and two hard-boiled eggs rounded the meal out. After splitting it up, we each got half the bread, an egg, and three strips of bacon. Shasta asked the first question, catching me right in the middle of a bite. I stuck my finger up in motion for a minute before swallowing and answering the question.

"Alright, start from the very beginning after you woke up without me. That must have been quite a start."

… **.**

I rolled my eyes as Shasta bit into his egg. "Good grief. A start? Yeah, you could say that.

Cor only had a couple minutes but he told me about you two running into each other and that you filled him in on whole 'saved by Jacob' story. When Tumnus and I came back into the room, I didn't even notice it wasn't you laying on the couch. I was just too exhausted."

I took another bite of my egg before I caught Shasta grinning at me through his mouthful of bacon.

"yeah, sure, go ahead and grin all you want. You'll get it done to you someday. Anyway, Tumnus woke me up four hours later when it was time to go down to the boat. I meant to get up earlier than that and catch you up. Course, I didn't, so we had to go right down to the ship. Whew. You want to talk about a tense walk, you should have seen that one."

As I paused to take another bite, Shasta barged in. "I dare say that it might have been a worse walk to the boat than it was trying to get through the city."

Shasta watched as I crinkled my face in thought for a minute before continuing. "Well yeah, it might have been. Ah. Anyways, we made it down to the boat and let out a huge sigh once we were on. Cor and I were sent below deck to hide while we waited for nightfall to slip out. Huh, that's funny. Now that I think about it, Ed was probably worried about an attack and wanted us safe. But yeah, we finally had enough time so Cor and I managed to catch up. That was when he let me know that you two had swapped places. He also filled me in about you overhearing the plan and heading out to meet up with Aravis and the horses. Seriously, did you really have to blurt out the whole thing about me being from another world and mentioning the books you guys are in? I'm a little put out at you about that."

…

My eyebrows sagged as I said it. I know I can't really blame him, but it did irk me.

Shasta must have seen the look in my eye since he lowered his head somewhat in regret. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to betray you, it just the pressure and everything else."

We both let out a sigh before I waved my hand in dismissal.

"Ah, don't worry. There's nothing we could have done about it. Just be grateful it turned out as well as it did."

Shasta nodded before replying. "Yeah, I know" We sat there in silence for the rest of our lunch, soaking the sights and sounds around us, grateful we had made it this far.

Just then I heard a commotion and looked up to see something going on over by Ed and Cor. Eustace and I looked at each other before working our way over. By the time we managed to make it up to the front and see what happened. We heard Ed shout out in exasperation before we got through the crowd.

"By the Lion's Mane prince, this is too much! Will your highness never be better! You are more of a heart's-scald than our entire army together! I'd as like to have a regiment of horses at my command than you!" We had finally wormed our way to the front and saw the reason for all the commotion.

Ed had frustration etched all over his face. Cor was standing in front of him and one of the dwarves, who I later learned was named Thornbut, was sitting on the ground and holding his ankle in a great degree of pain.

"See what your Highness has done, deprived us of a prime warrior on the eve of battle."

And then Cor had the audacity to, of all things, volunteer to replace him. "I'll take his place!"

Ed sighed and rubbed his temple. "No, you will not. Your courage is not in doubt. Everyone here knows you have at least as much as any of us, but a boy in battle is a danger only to his own side."

…

Ed was getting ready to say something else, but one of the centaurs tapped him on the shoulder. "Your Highness, there are some things we need to finalize." Ed just nodded before turning and following him. Cor apologized to the dwarf as the crowd dissipated and turned back to whatever they were working on. Shasta and I made it back to our spot before gathering up the leftovers and starting to put everything back in the saddlebags.

Out of nowhere Cor came up with two horses and whispered to Shasta. "Quick, here is the dwarves' horse and his armor. Put it on, quick. And here's some for you too, Jacob."

I looked at him with for a second before putting the stuff on. For some reason, I stood there wondering what he was up to. I didn't find out we had finished and Shasta asked the question for me.

"What is all this for?" Shasta looked taken back before he answered. "Why, for the battle, of course! Don't you want to!"

The response Shasta gave was not one I was expecting. "Oh, ah, yes of course." Cor helped Shasta get the chest plates on. "That's right, now the sword belt. But we must ride near the rear of the column and keep quiet as mice. Once the battle begins everyone will be far too busy to notice us."

I had a very bad feeling about this.

When we finished our lunch and the whole company had made ready to go, we headed for the pass Shasta had come through overnight and ultimately the battle of Anvard. We struck out going west with land dropping steadily to our right and the ridge rising up to our left. Like Cor planned, the three of us were at the rear of the column and so far no one had noticed us. I could see the army winding in front of us and eventually, we were down to single file as we neared the top of the ridge. Unfortunately, we had been surrounded by trees and couldn't see the view. When we finally came over the ridge and I got my first glimpse of Archenland, I'm sure both Shasta and I were awed by the sight.

…

You could see almost the entire kingdom of Archenland laid out before us. Everything was covered in a hazy blue from the fog in the mountain pass. If you looked hard enough, you could see a glint of silver from the desert beyond.

Another 20 minutes brought us down from the mountain pass and onto a ridge near the castle. Wind-swept grass spread out in front of us, and fairly close was Anvard, King Lune's castle.

Unfortunately, Rabadash and his men had already commenced the attack, focusing on the walls and taking a huge battering ram to the castle gates. The solid thumps of the hits were audible all the way over here.

"Craw!" I looked up, squinting through my visor to see huge eagles circling overhead. We had been shielded by the transition from forest to meadow coming down, in addition to Rabadash and his army being focused on the castle assault. Everyone came to a halt and all at once started taking up positions. The big cats, lions, leopards, panthers and the like took up the left flank and the Giants took the right.

There wasn't much the Giants had to do to arm up anyways. They were well, giants. They did, however, draw a pair of war boots from their backs. The boots came up to their knees and had spikes, spears, and lances attached. I really didn't want to know how effective those things were.

The centaurs took up the front row and staggered themselves with the mounted humans in between them. Edmund and Peridian took up the two positions in the very front with Destrian on the left half of the row and Destrier out of sight in the mix. Beardstead and Grimsby had ended up somewhere to my right. As for Shasta, he had gotten separated in the shuffle, ending up behind me and Cor off to my left. The whole army had been split into one long line, although everyone had shifted around so the result wasn't a perfect row.

I was getting pretty nervous too, so I did the same thing as everyone else, checking all the straps on my mail and the sword. I really just wanted Ed to get the column moving before I had a chance to think about what I was getting myself into.

Swords out, with the column moving forward at a walk. The walk turned into a trot, and then a canter. Everyone around me let out a war whoop to get the adrenaline pumping for the fight. I didn't have to worry about the adrenaline.

I was scared stiff beyond words.

…

Ok, I digress for a minute. As much as I hate getting turned into a half-dragon freak, I wouldn't be able to do anything without those abilities. When you think about it, it's a bizarre and weird sense of irony. But, ah, back to the story.

I remember sitting there and completely zoning out. The noise around me drowned out. I couldn't move, I couldn't react. The crudely made battering ram was pounding on the closed doors and the portcullis behind it. Ed told me later it looked like there were 50 men on the battering ram. We were almost on them when the bulk of Rabadash's force wheeled around in an instant and headed straight toward us with Rabadash leading in a screaming charge.

Ed gave out a yell, and our whole wave lept forward with a gallop. The animals were roaring or screeching, and the humans, centaurs, giants, and others were shouting war cries. I have no doubt some of it was out of fear.

Everything seemed to slow down to the speed of cold molasses. The effect was like one of those silent, black-and-white horror. Everything seemed dulled, the colors were muted like sepia film and my ears felt waterlogged. One second I felt my heart pounding like a rabid animal and the other everything was still, like an out of body experience.

The lines met, and in a nanosecond my world went from a snail's pace to the speed of light.

CRASH! And then we were in the middle of it. The noise washed over everything like a tsunami. It all happened so fast I could barely comprehend it. I ducked just in time to avoid a spear and the wet slurp as it lodged itself in the faun behind me. The Calvary lines had met in the middle and dissolved into a puddle of bloody screams as men and beast were cut down. The infantry was working its way past, heading straight toward us.

…

A Calormene swung down toward my right, before bringing it back in a cross swipe and down at my head. I dodged leaning to the left before ducking under the blade and landing a clean upper block. The blade wobbled just a bit as the weight crunched down. I don't know what made me fire through it, but in an instant, I let the momentum push our blades down before bringing mine in a circle, landing the blow right in the neck.

The next one swung at my side. There wasn't enough time to bring my blade down and block it, so I just jerked to the left as I felt the blade scrape against the chain mail for a minute. I brought the blade around in a spin. I wasn't quite fast enough as both of the blades met. My grip was starting to slip. With desperation I let them go at the last second and managed to plant my right foot squarely on the blade, temporarily pinning the Calormenes scimitar to the ground. A swing to his side finished him off. Another one brought an uppercut at me, ducking as I swung my blade over his head before nearly slicing off the leg. He collapsed.

I finally had a moment to look around. Giants were shredding the Calormenes on our right flank with the big cats squeezing on the left. They had already taken out most of the horses, depriving the Calormenes of an escape route. Fighting had been moving toward Anvard's gate.. I heard snarls as the cats jumped the rams-men. A shattering thud echoed as the ram crashed to the ground. I didn't have time to savor the victory.

That was all I had time to notice as another Calormene swung at me and my world was awash in war again.

Another two or three minutes passed before I finally noticed the fight had died down and the remaining noises weren't those of a battle.

Most of the remaining Calormene horses were down, apparently having been taken out by the leopards, panthers, etc. Calormenes were down all over and the only pocket left was Ed and Rabadash going at it right in the castle gate. There was a final, tiny knot of Calormenes huddled next to Rabadash. They were getting pounded, giants and cats on the sides with Lune and his men coming out of the castle. Everyone had started to gather around, watching to see who would win.

I couldn't though. If I went anywhere, I had to get away, backing up a few paces as my adrenaline-soaked body finally started to calm down.

Now that I had a moment to think, the full impact of what I'd just gone through hit full force. I started getting dry heaves and the armor suddenly felt like a million pounds, despite whatever effect the air had on me. My body started shaking again and I just collapsed on my knees.

…

There was no telling how long I just crouched there, zoning out with shock.

When my head finally cleared, I heard jingling metal close to me and tensed up thinking it was another Calormene. Looking up however, the person was my height and a Narnian by the color of his armor.

"Jacob, is that you? What happened, are you okay?"

I looked up at him with complete bafflement. "Okay, okay! Of course, I'm not okay, I just had to **KILL PEOPLE!** That's horrible and disgusting, and – just – heaven help me. What have I done."

Shasta sighed and swallowed, sympathy etched over his face. "Yeah, I know what you mean. You are still in one piece though."

I nodded as steadily as I could, but I still shook. "Yeah, where's Corrin?" A gauntleted hand was offered and we started walking toward Anvard, the Narnians, and the Archenlanders.

Shasta answered back as we walked. "I don't" – Neither of us got to say anymore because the chatter and I'd heard earlier turned into full-scale laughter.

When we were close enough and looked up, what I saw was hilarious. Now, I've seen a lot of stuff since then and this is still at the top of the list. It looked like Rabadash was being suspended from the castle wall. I couldn't see what was holding him up, but somehow, his mail had gotten stuck on a hook protruding from the wall. On top of that, he was mad as hops and in the middle of a rant. He was swinging side to side on the hook like it was a pendulum, making it impossible to take him seriously.

"Let me down Edmund, let me down and fight me like a king and a man; or if you are too great a coward to do that, kill me at once!"

Ed considered it for a minute and with a shrug, walked straight for him. "Of course, Rabadash."

Ed only made it a foot and a half before king Lune put his arm out and stopped him. "By your majesty's leave, not so!"

Turning, he addressed Rabadash. "Your royal highness, if you had given that challenge a week ago, I'll answer for it there's no one in King Edmund's domain, from the High King down to the smallest Talking Mouse, who would have refused it. But by attacking our castle at Anvard in time of peace, without defiance sent, you have proved yourself no knight, and one that ought to be whipped by the hangman than to be suffered crossing swords with any person of honor. Take him down, bind him, and carry him within till our pleasure is further known."

Rabadash was still thrashing, cursing, and insulting, as his scimitar was forced out of his hands and they took him inside trussed up.

…

I started wondering what happened to Cor again when he ran up behind us and dragged Shasta over to King Lune, shouting, "Here he is a father, here he is!"

I rolled my eyes and followed. Lune and the rest of the crowd turned around to see the commotion, with Lune replying to his son in a gruff voice. "Aye, and there _thou_ art, at last, and has been in the battle, clean contrary to your obedience. A boy to break a father's heart! At your age, a rod to the breach was fitter than a sword in your fist, ha!"

Everyone could see Lune was extremely proud of his son despite the chiding. Darin had ambled up to the group and put his two cents.

"Chide him no more, Sire, if it please you. His Highness would not be your son if he did not inherit your conditions. It would grieve your majesty more if he had to be scolded for the opposite fault."

Lune was deep in thought for a minute before replying. "Well, well, it shall be passed over this time. And now to an equally important matter. Cor and Shasta, both of you up here now." Shasta was looking somewhat confused as Cor dragged him forward, albeit a little hesitantly.

Lune was fidgeting as they got into position and the rest of us were crowding around to see what this was about. "Stand there together, boys, and let all the court see you. Hold up your heads." Turning, he addressed the crowd gathered around him. "Now gentlemen, look on them both. Has any man any doubts?"

Everyone burst out cheering and for a minute I was completely confused why. I stared harder though, and then it hit me, they were identical twins.

 **Whew! This was Quite a chapter! I hope I did a decent job portraying the shock of being in battle for the first time. Let me know what you think. Anyways, there's two important things I need to mention.**

 **First: I could have sworn my bio mentioned my interest in model railroading, but incase it didn't, go to YouTube and look up** _ **Goose in The Caboose Productions**_ **. That is so much catchier than just my name.**

 **Second: Shout out to PadrePedro. Thanks for the great review man, glad you enjoyed it. For those of you who didn't see the review, I should mention a couple things I relayed to him. First Beruna doesn't show up until Prince Caspian, and that's at least four books away right now. Unless I decide to have another Narnia trip between** _ **The Horse and His Boy**_ **and** _ **Prince Caspian.**_ **Don't know yet. Second, King Lune's castle** _ **is**_ **Anvard. I don't know how I missed that. I'm working on fixing that.**

 **Well, that's going to do it folks. Till next time, follow Jesus, ride dragons, and…** _ **AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!**_


	12. At the Hermitage

**Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles, King Lune successfully made it to Anvard in time to ward off Rabadash's first attack. Meanwhile, Shasta met up with the Narnian army the Edmund and the others had scrambled. Furthermore, Corrin borrowed some armor, causing Corrin, along with Shasta ended up in the battle. Narnia was victorious, and at the end Shasta was revealed to be the long-lost Prince Cor! Now, let's turn our attention back to the Hermit.**

Chapter Eleven

Alright, at this point we should probably see how Aravis, Bree, and Hwin are doing. The hermit had been watching the pool in his garden all day which, as it turned out, was a magic pool in that he could sometimes see the events unfolding outside his lush green walls, all the way to every corner of Narnia's planet. The Hermit had lived long enough to know when something was coming and hardly left the thing all day. He would call out the stuff he saw, and after a raucously long wait, he finally spied what he had been waiting for.

"I see one-two-no three, eagles wheeling in the gap by Stormness Head. One is the oldest of all eagles. He would not be out unless the battle is at hand. I see him wheel to and fro, sometimes peering down behind Anvard and sometimes to the east, behind Stromness. Ah, I see know what Rabadash and his men have been so busy at all day. They have felled and loped a great tree and they are now coming out of the woods carrying it as a ram."

As I found out later, Shasta had warned king Lune just in time. It was barely 10 minutes between reaching Anvard and Rabadash's first attack. Considering the fact he was going for a surprise attack, the shock of seeing a defense mounted staggered him, which was probably what cost him the attack in the first place. Now, he was apparently back for round two. Although, we knew he was coming at this point.

"He would have been wiser if he had set his men to making ladders, but it takes too long and he is impatient. Fool that he is. He ought to have ridden back to Tashbann as soon as the first attack failed, for his whole plan depended on speed and surprise. Now they are bringing the ram into position, King Lune's men are shooting hard from the walls. Five Calormenes have fallen, but not many will, what with their shields above their heads.

"Rabadash is giving his orders know. With him are his most trusted lords, fierce Tarakan's from the eastern provinces. I can see their faces. There is Corradin of Castle Tormunt, and Azrooh, and Chlamash, and Ilgamuth of the twisted lip, and a tall Tarakan with a crimson beard-"

They had all been listening intently and when Bree heard the description, he shouted, "by Lion's mane, it's my old master Anradin.

"Ssh," said Aravis.

"Now the ram has started. If I could see as well as hear, what a noise that would make! Stroke after stroke; and no gate can stand it forever. But wait! Something up by Stromness Ridge has scared the birds. They're coming out in masses. And wait again…I can't see yet…ah! Now I can. The whole ridge, upon the east, is black with horsemen. If only the wind would catch that standard and spread it out. They're over the ridge now, whoever they are. Aha, I see the banner now. Narnia, Narnia! It's the red lion. They're in full career down the hill. I can see King Edmund and there's a woman behind among the archers. Oh-"

"What is it?" asked Hwin breathlessly

"All these cats are dashing out from the left of the line."

"Cats?" said Aravis with surprise.

The hermit resumed his narration, angst, and excitement in his voice. "Great cats. Panthers, leopards, and such. I see I see. The cats are coming around in a circle to get at the horses of the dismounted men. A good stroke. The Calormene horses are mad with terror already. Now the cats are in among them, but Rabadash has reformed his line and has a hundred men in the saddle. They're riding to meet the Narnians. There are only a hundred yards between the two lines now. Only fifty. I can see King Edmund. I can see the Lord Peridian.

"There are two, no wait, three mere children in the battle. What can the Narnian king possibly be about to let them into battle? Only ten yards-the lines have met. The giants on the Narnian right are doing wonders…but one's down… shot through the eye, I suppose. The center's all a muddle. Wait a minute, I can see one of the three boys. He looks about 14, thin and skinny as a rail. Whoever he is, he's doing decent. This is definitely his first time in a battle though."

"That's Jacob! How did he-" Aravis asked. Bree was the only one who offered up a suggestion. "He must have escaped with King Edmund and Queen Susan."

The hermit cleared his throat and continued. "I can see more on the left, there are the other two boys again. Lion alive! One of them is Prince Corin. The other, like him as two peas. It's your Shasta. Corin is fighting like a man. He's killed a Calormene. I can see a bit of the center now. Rabadash and Edmund almost met, but the press has separated them-"

"What about Shasta and Jacob? Asked Aravis.

"Oh, the fool." The hermit groaned and facepalmed. "The poor, brave, little fool. He knows nothing about this work. He's making no use of his shield at all, his whole side's exposed. He hasn't the faintest idea what to do with his sword. Oh, he's remembered it now. He's waving it wildly about…nearly cut his own pony's head off, and he will in a moment if he's not careful. It's been knocked out of his hand now. It's mere murder to send a child into battle; he can't live five minutes. Duck, you fool – oh, he's down."

Hwin, Bree and Aravis could barely utter the question. "Killed."

The hermit sighed and continued. "How can I tell. Wait a minute, I see Jacob again. Dodge! The blade just passed his side. He's come around in a spin, and…somehow planted his foot on the Calormenes blade. The Calormene is down, Jacob landed the blow right in his side above the hip. He barely dodged another upstroke. The Calormenes ducked under his swing… and just had his leg chopped off for the effort. He's down.

"The cats have done their work. All the riderless horses are either dead or escaped now: no retreat for the Calormenes on them. Now the cats are turning back to the main battle. They're leaping on the rams men. The ram is down. Oh, good! Good! The gates are opening from the inside: there's going to be a sortie. The first three are out. It's King Lune in the middle: the brothers Dar and Darrin on either side of him. Behind them are Tran and Shar and Cole with his brother Colin. There are ten – twenty – nearly thirty of them out by now.

"The Calormene line is being forced back upon them. King Edmund is dealing Marvelous strokes. He's just slashed Corradin's head off. Lots of Calormenes have thrown down their arms and are heading for the woods and those that remain are hard pressed. The giants are closing in from the right – cats on the left – King Lune from the rear. The Calormenes are a little knot now, fighting back to back. Your Tarkaan's down Bree. Lune and Azrooh are fighting hand to hand; the king is winning – the King's keeping up well – the King's won. Azeroth's down. King Edmund's down – no, he's up again: he's at it with Rabadash.

"They're fighting in the very gate of the castle. Several Calormenes have surrendered. Darrin has killed Ilgamuth. I can't see what has happened to Rabadash. I think he's dead, leaning against the castle wall, but I don't know. Chlamash and King Edmund are still fighting but the battle is over everywhere else. Chlamash has surrendered. The battle _is_ over! The Calormenes are utterly defeated!

The hermit kept watching through the aftermath up to when King Lune revealed Shasta as none other than Cor, the long-lost brother of Prince Corrin. The hermit and company finally stopped watching at this point, mainly because the sound had clicked off just after Rabadash was led into the castle.

"Well, my friends," Bree said with a whiny," I suppose we should go to bed. It is getting on late in the day and I am tired. The rest just nodded, minds still trying to process what they saw in the pool. Aravis hugged both around the neck, with Hwin giving a light whinny in her ear and Bree a nudge against her cheek.

Aravis let out a sigh as she changed and plopped into the bed. "Oh Shasta, Jacob, you two idiots. Silly, stupid, reckless idiots. I simply _MUST_ hear the story behind this at the appropriate time." She fell asleep with a half grin on her lips.

Bree and Aravis on the other hand, not so much. They both had the last bit of oats left in their feed sacks from earlier and bedded down. Bree seemed extremely restless though, moving around much more than usual. Hwin noticed and turned toward him.

"Bree, are you alright, you walk enough to drive a decent horse mad, say hardly anything, and have an absolute vacant look in your eyes. Don't try to tell me you're fine, cause you're not." Bree said nothing for a minute before Hwin asked again. "Bree?"

"I'm fine Hwin. I'd rather not talk about it tonight if that's alright."

Hwin opened her snout to respond but decided against it. She eventually fell asleep, albeit with some anxiety

The next day was the hermit's usual routine, with some changes to accommodate his guests. Rising just before dawn, he went out to the spring/gardening house nestled in one corner of the garden behind the luscious plants. The springhouse itself was on a natural slope that the hermit had dug out.

The building was two stories, entered at the top. This top level was more of a study and had a telescope mount on which the hermit would, among other things, occasionally gaze up at the Narnian constellations. The telescope itself was set up on a little balcony accessed through a door on the right side of the room. On either side of the door was a dizzying array of drawers, map trays, and class paned cupboards that could be locked. Books covered both walls, the left being for plants, biology, and botany. The right was all constellations and books about the heavens and the various glories within. The shallow drawers were crammed to the gills with maps and charts on all manner of subjects. The other wall had a column of pictures on the far right, the hermit's family. His parents, aunts, uncles, and some cousins rounded out the collection. Next to that, in the middle of the wall, were some framed maps. A map of Calormen was on the bottom, with a map of the Lone islands to its left. Above those two was a large, general map of the known world at that time. Above that were two maps of Narnia. One was the entire kingdom, and the other was a collection of smaller maps portraying the castle and town of Cair Paravel, the large trading/market center at Beruna, and the forest at Lantern Waste. The final two maps on the left of this collection were one of the western border facing Telmar and the border with the northern wilderness. Rounding out the wall was a writing desk and a cot for overnight observations stuck in the corner. The middle of the room was taken up by a long, narrow table the hermit used to roll out maps and charts.

The lower level was purely for planting. A spiral staircase of polished oak wound down to a small vestibule with two brooms, and a mop and bucket. A door separated the vestibule from the rest of the floor. Immediately to the right behind the door, shovels, spades, rakes, and other large Gardening tools were hung on pegs. Cleaned, stacked pots awaited new plants. Next, to the storage area, a long table ran the length of the wall. Pegs along the back held hoes, trowels, and drawers built under the shelf were divided and labeled for various seeds. Everything from tomato to pear tree seeds was neatly organized and waiting their turn to be planted. The table surface was a disorganization of half-filled pots and new plants in various stages of growth. On the other wall was a shorter table with large barrels. A beaker set, journals, and charts covered the table and the pots held various colored dirt. Turns out the hermit was experimenting with different soil compositions and their efficiency. He obviously didn't recognize it, but his experiments were probably the first scientific agriculture in Narnia.

The hermit walked up to the door, struggling with the fickle doorknob before the door opened with a slight creak. The hermit walked straight through the upper level, muttering somewhat as he straightened some loose papers. The hermit ventured down the spiral staircase and changed into some muck boots. He fiddled around the lower level for a while, moving between the tables and occasionally messing with the various pots and journals strewn about. Formulas were scribbled down and updated, some tossed out and others finalized. Another half hour was spent on moving around the various pants and pots. Finally finished, the hermit gathered some herbs and headed back to the kitchen to make some mash.

Aravis cracked her eyes open to the sound of a bird chirping on the windowsill. Turning her head to look, the bird caught her eye for a second before fluttering off. Reaching one of her hands up to feel her back, she could hardly tell where the scars were anymore.

"I should say," she mumbled, "The hermit truly did a masterful job. I shall have to compliment him."

She swung out of bed, shivering slightly at the coolness in the air. After washing up and changing, she made her way through the house and out to Bree and Hwin stalls.

Bree didn't have much sleep that night. He was in and out of sleep, never really reaching deep restful sleep. Hwin fared better though, and when she woke up she noticed Bree had left the stalls. "Oh Bree, what is eating you?" Hwin sighed before getting up and heading out to find her friend. The chirping birds and cool breeze washed over her snout, refreshing her senses as she looked around. After some searching she found Bree laying down in a little alcove of the garden. The alcove was a small grassy area surrounded by the lush plants with a bench off to one side. Everything was nestled next to one of the outer walls of the Hermitage.

Upon finding the stalls empty Aravis started wondering around the garden as she searched for her friends. She eventually ended up on the path going by the alcove and was nearly there when she saw Hwin.

Hwin felt relieved when she heard Aravis holler to her. "Hwin, over here!" She trotted over to Aravis, getting a large hug around the neck. Hwin returned it with a nuzzle on the girl's shoulder. "Well, good morning dear. I take it you slept well?" Aravis grinned broadly. "Actually, I slept very well. I hardly felt the scratches at all this morning." "Well then, I take it the hermit does excellent work." That he does. Now, where is Bree?" Hwin's face drooped somewhat. "Our dear Bree is-I don't know. Something was on his mind last night, but I couldn't get him to tell me what. He didn't sleep much last night and when I woke up this morning, he was already gone. He's laying in the clearing over there. I don't want to talk to him by myself. I would appreciate it if you were there with me." Aravis looked somewhat shocked for a second before a solemn nod washed over her face. "Of course Hwin! You shouldn't even have to ask." The smile returned to Hwin's face. "Thank-you." "Well then, let's go see if we can't cheer our friend up."

 **Alright everyone, you know the drill, read and review! Also, a shout-out to my newest follower, AchilliesGOD. Thanks for the follow man! But seriously, thank-you to everyone who is keeping up with this story, your patience will be rewarded. Once we finish the groundwork in the next couple books, the pace will start picking up pretty quick. Then we can start getting into Avengers, the remaining Narnia chronicles, and How to Train Your Dragon. We're halfway through this installment, so we will get there eventually.**


	13. Joyful Reunions and Lessons Learned

**Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles, we saw how Aravis, Bree, and Hwin are recuperating at the Hermit's. Unfortunetly though, Bree has become more and more depressed. Hwin's attempts to help didn't seem to work, so she and Aravis have agreed to give it another try. Let's see how it turns out.**

Chapter 12

Hwin turned and the two of them walked over to Bree, Hwin starting the conversation. "I've had enough of this," said Hwin. "The hermit has been very good to us and I'm very much obliged to him, I'm sure. But I'm getting a fat as a pet pony, eating all day and getting no exercise. Let's get on to Narnia." Bee answered immediately. "Oh, not today Ma'am, I wouldn't hurry things. Some other day, don't you think?"

"We must see Shasta first and say goodbye to him – and – apologize. And we need to catch up with Jacob." Bree's eyes latched onto her and he said, with much enthusiasm, "exactly! Just what I was going to say." Hwin spoke next. "Oh, of course. I expect they are both at Anvard. Naturally, we'd look in and say goodbye. But that's on our way. And why shouldn't we start at once.? After all, I thought it was Narnia we all wanted to get to.

"I suppose so." Aravis had been so eager to get o Narnia in the first place she hadn't really stopped to think about what she would actually do. The thought filled her with some dread. I mean, she was essentially starting an entirely new life.

Bree interrupted rather hastily. "Of course, of course. But there's no need to rush things if you know what I mean."

Aravis raised her left eyebrow and Hwin pulled her head back slightly before she answered Bree. "No, I don't know what you mean. Just why, exactly, don't you want to go?"

"M-mm, broo-hoo." Neither Aravis or Hwin could understand that bit. "Well, don't you see, Ma'am – it's an important occasion – returning to one's country – entering society – the best society – it is so essential to making a good impression – not perhaps looking quite ourselves, yet, eh?"

Hwin broke out in a snort. "It's your tail, Bree! I see it all now. You want to wait until your tail's grown again! And we don't even know if tails are worn long in Narnia. Really, Bree, your as vain as that Tarkheena in Tashbaan!"

Aravis had a lopsided grin. "You are silly, Bree."

Bree looked at her with a frown. "By the Lion's Mane, Tarkheena, I'm nothing of the sort!"

Aravis, in all actuality, didn't care about the tail at all. However, this was the opportunity to ask Bree one question that had been on her mind. "Bree, I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time. Why do you keep on swearing _By the Lion_ and _By the Lion's Mane_? I thought you hated lions."

Bree's tone started getting a confident edge. "So I do. But when I speak of _the_ lion, of course, I mean Aslan, the great deliverer of Narnia who drove away from the Witch and the Winter. All Narnians swear by _him._ "

Aravis was starting to get confused. "But is he a lion?"

Bree looked completely shocked before he resumed his confident tone. "No, no, of course not!" Aravis kept going. "All the stories about him in Tashbaan say he is, and if he isn't a lion why do you call him a lion."

Aravis and Hwin were both listening to Bree when a golden glow started peeking over the top of the hedge. And then they saw a sight that stole the breath from their lungs. The golden glow was followed by a massive lion the lept up, balancing on the top of the ledge before landing in between Bree and the hedge. Even more astounding was the fact that the lion was completely silent the whole time. Not only that, but the lion seemed to glow with a golden hue. Bree didn't hear a thing, so he kept going.

"Well, you would hardly understand at your age. And I was only a little foal when I left, so I don't quite understand myself. No doubt, when they speak of him as a lion, they only mean he's as strong as a lion. Or, to our enemies, as fierce as a lion. Or something of that kind. Even a little girl like you, Aravis, must see that it is quite absurd to suppose that he is a real lion. Indeed it would be disrespectful. If he was a lion he'd have to be a beast just like the rest of us." Bree was still oblivious as he started chuckling. At least as well as a horse could. "If he was a lion, he'd have four paws, a tail, and whisker – Aie, ooh, hoo – hoo! Help!

I jibed him a lot about this later since it was so hilarious, which it is. I'll never forget that one. But I digress.

What made Bree jump was one of Aslan's whiskers brushing his snout. It scared the snot out of him. Bree must have jumped two feet before rocketing to the other side of the clearing andshakily turning around. There was nowhere to go. Nobody said anything for a second and just stood there staring. It was Hwin who broke the silence. She gave a weird neigh and trotted over to the lion, shaking the whole way. "Please, you're so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I'd sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.

Aslan reached down and planted a lion's kiss on her snout. "Dearest daughter, rise. It is not me who your affection is due. We both serve the Lord Most High. It is from Him I take orders and it is His bidding I do. Speak, my daughter." "P – please, sir. If it is The Lord Most High you serve then my affection is for Him." 'Aslan smiled, chuckling softly. "Ver well, my daughter. Keep that faith and joy shall be yours."

Aslan lifted his head and spoke in a louder voice so Aravis and Bree could hear him. He set his eyes on Bree and the horse shrunk back slightly. "Now, Bree. You poor, frightened horse, draw near. Nearer still, my son. Do not dare not to dare. Touch me. Smell me. I am a true beast."

Bree's voice came out light and shaken. "Aslan, I'm afraid I must be rather a fool."

Aslan smiled. "Hear the words of my master. 'Happy is the horse who knows that while he is still young.' Or the Human."

His great eyes turned toward Aravis and what she saw at that moment stayed with her until her dying day. Joy, sorrow, compassion, and grief were all reflected in an instant. And then, beyond that, a man in robes so white, the color couldn't be described. More compassion and grace than she had ever known, but also a righteous justice that seemed to transcend time. But above all that, love. Love so deep and wide it was unfathomable, yet so specific to her she felt like collapsing.

'Draw near, Aravis, daughter of the Highest." Aslan turned his great paws over. "See! My paws are velveted. They will not be allowed to scratch you this time."

Aravis asked, shocked, "this time?"

It was I who was ordered to wound you. I was the only lion you met in all your journeyings. Do you know why I did this?"

"No, sir."

"the scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you placed upon her. You need to to know what it felt like, needed to know that all your actions have consequences."

Aravis started to ask something but stopped midway. "Yes, sir. Please – "

"Ask on, my dear."

"Will any more harm come to her by what I did."

Aslan chuckled softly. "Child, I am telling your story, no one is told any story but their own." He raised his head and spoke up. "Be merry, little ones. We shall meet again soon. But in the meantime, you shall have some visitors. Both of which, I wager you will be relieved to see." Then, in one great leap, he reached to the top of the wall and seemed to vanish from sight. Even the air itself seemed duller as if its life was Aslan's light.

Even if they wanted to talk, I highly doubt they could have said anything. Actually, all three of them told me they couldn't have anyways. What they did do was go their separate ways to different sections of the garden, lost in thought. They were so caught up in their thoughts none realized an entire hour had passed until they heard the meal bell signaling lunch, the three of them made their way to the back of the hermit's house. Bree and Hwin settled at the back door, while Aravis was still thinking. She had made her way next to the gate when a loud horn startled her. "Who goes there?"

A high pitched, squeaky voice shouted out. "Announcing His Royal Highness, Prince Cor of Archenland and company."

"Company", she asked herself. Aravis undid the bolt and drew the door back and stepped to the side, observing the company as she let them in.

Four guards came first, marching tall and straight. A chainmail base was fortified with plate armor on the chest, arms, and legs. Large round shields were on their outside arm. Hand and a half swords were nestled in scabbards and the other hand was holding halberds. The guards split, two on the left and two on the right. The trumpeter and herald followed next, both splitting up and taking opposite sides. The herald shouted out again. "His Royal Prince Cor of Archenland and company desire an audience with the Lady Aravis."

Shasta – wait, that would be Cor now – Cor walked through the gate and Aravis curtsied and Cor bowed. Aravis was busy looking down at the ground so she didn't see me slip through the gate as a trumpeter and the rest of the company withdrew. It was nice to have my jeans, boots, and a t-shirt back on after the itchy leather padding, shirt, and breeches I had under the armor. Two guards on the right and two on the left with the trumpeter and herald in the center, all of them walking out backward and drawing the gates closed.

When I say Cor bowed, he tried to bow. Don't get me wrong, it was a good attempt. It was still clumsy enough I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I couldn't lose it now, the best part was coming up.

Aravis's look went from a smile to a question mark. Her eyes squinted just a fraction as she took in Cor's new look. A gold circlet was on top of his head. There were two shirts, a thin outer white one, and a bright red undershirt. The breeches were white and the whole look was capped off with Cor's jewel-encrusted sword. The actual sword was a hand and a half sword with thin gold twine layered into the leather wrapped grip. The pommel was enameled and polished to the point I could see my own reflection.

Aravis finally figured out who it was, doing the classic gasp – with – hand – over – mouth look. Classic. "Why, it's Shasta!" Cor turned to beat red and started explaining before Aravis or I could say anything. "Look here, Aravis, I do hope you don't think I'm getting up like this to impress you or make out that I'm better or any sort of that rot. Because I'd far rather have come in my old clothes, but they're burnt now, and my father said-"

"Your father?"

"Yes. Apparently, King Lune is my father. I might really have guessed it, Corin being so like me. We were twins you see. Oh, and my name isn't Shasta, it's Cor."

"Cor is a nicer name than Shasta"

"Brother's names run like that in Archenland. Like Dar and Darrin, Cole and Collin and so on."

"Shasta – I mean Cor" Shasta went to interrupt but Aravis wouldn't let him. "No, shut up. There's something I've got to say at once. I'm sorry I've been such a pig. But I did change before I knew you were a prince, honestly, I did: when you went back and faced the Lion."

Cor grinned. "It really wasn't going to kill you, that Lion"

"I know," Aravis nodded and they both sat there and thought.

I couldn't keep quiet any longer and walked up to them. "Hey! You two going to keep yapping or do I get a 'welcome back' greeting! Aravis looked up before getting a big grin. "you made it out, and you're fine! Oh, thank the Lion! You have got some stories to tell me." I looked at her a second before I burst out laughing. "Stories! Oh, that's good. Don't worry Aravis, I'll fill you in on the ride back to King Lune's castle. Right now though, I want to go see Bree and Hwin. Oh shoot, come here and let me give you a hug." Aravis just about tried to squeeze the breath out of me. "Ooph. I'm glad to see you too Aravis. Missed you." "I missed you too. Don't scare us like that again, you're too special of a friend to lose." The only thing I could do was grin and shake my head. "I'll try Aravis, I'll try."

Man, that seems ironic now. Although if I knew then what was coming I would have been scared.

Aravis turned to look at Cor and remembered the bandage on his hand. She just about shrieked at remembering. "I say, I forgot! Both of you have been in battle. Is that a wound Cor?"

Cor tried his best regal tome as he answered. "A mere scratch." And then he just burst out laughing while I rolled my eyes. "if you want to know the truth it isn't a proper wound at all. I only took the skin off my knuckles just as any proper fool might do without going near a battle." "Still, you were in the battle. It must have been wonderful."

"It wasn't at all like I thought. It wasn't like either of us thought, was it, Jacob" Aravis turned to look at me.

I went to reply, but it was like I was there all over again. The rush of images hit, and I started zoning out. I became dizzy and lightheaded, reaching down for a bench we had come to. I finally caught my breath.

"I – um – it was indescribable Aravis. It was horrible, disgusting, and terrifying at the same time. Dirty, I just feel dirty, even though I took a bath and have my clothes back on. My brain can't process it. Aravis, the battle was not a glorious thing. It's not something to desire or want. Sometimes I'd wonder how war cracks some soldiers. Drives them nuts and turns them into monsters like Rabadash. Now I know. Yeah, we did it for a just reason, but that doesn't make it easier to deal with. Sha – heck – Cor, why don't you finish your story.

"Right." He motioned to the bench. "Let's sit down." They took a seat on either side of me as I sat down on the bench. "for it's a rather long story. By the way, father's an absolute brick. I'd be just as pleased – or very nearly – at finding he was my father even if he wasn't a king. Even though education and all sorts of horrible things are going to happen to me. But you want the story. Well, Corin and I are twins. And about a week after we were born, apparently, they took us to a wise old centaur in Narnia to be bleed or something. Now this centaur was a prophet as a good many centaurs are. Perhaps you haven't seen any centaurs yet? There were some in the battle yesterday. Most remarkable people, but I can't say I feel quite at home with them yet. I say, Aravis, there are going to be a lot of things to get used to in these northern countries."

"Yes, there are. But get on with the story"

"Please. To you guys there just legends. I'm still trying to get over the fact I'm living out what is a fantasy book where I come from. I've got it worse, if I may say so." I had to remind them of that fact.

"Cor rolled his eyes at me before he continued. "Well, as soon as he saw Corin and me, he looked at me and said, 'A day will come when that boy shall save Archenland from the greatest danger in which she ever lay'. So, of course, my father and mother were very pleased. But there was someone present who wasn't. This chap was called the Lord Bar who had been father's, Lord Chancellor. And apparently, he'd done something wrong – bezeling or some word like that – I didn't understand that part very well – and Father had to dismiss him. But nothing else was done to him and he was all allowed to go on living in Archenland. But he must have been as bad as he could be, for it came out afterward he had been in the pay of the Tisroc and had sent a lot of secret information to Tashbaan. So as soon as he heard I was going to save Archenland from a great danger he decided I must be put out of the way. Well, he succeeded in kidnapping me and rode away down the Winding Arrow toward the coast. We still don't know how he managed to kidnap me. He'd had everything prepared and a ship manned with his own followers lying ready for him and he put out to sea with me on board. But father got wind of it, though not quite in time, and was after him as quickly as he could. The Lord Bar was already at sea when Father reached the coast, but not out of sight. And my father was embarked on one of his own warships within twenty minutes.

 **Alright everyone, you know the drill! Also, I corrected the link to my YouTube page, so you should be taken straight to the homepage now. Hope you enjoy and subscribe.**


	14. Stories and A Hint Of The Future

**Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles we saw how Aslan himself appeared to Aravis, Bree, and Hwin. Aslan proceeded to reveal that he was the same lion that had chased them and scratched Aravis before telling them why. After giving Bree a message and lifting his spirits, he told them they would have two visitors. The two visitors turned out to be Cor and Jacob, coming to take them back to Anvard. Finally we saw the joyful reunion between the three friends and Cor starting to tell how he ended up in Caloremen as a baby. Let's find out what happened!**

Chapter Thirteen

"It must have been a wonderful chase. They were six days following Bar's galleon and brought it to battle on the seventh. It was a great sea-fight from everything I heard yesterday, lasting from ten o'clock in the morning till sunset. Our people took the ship in the end. But one of his men said, early in the morning, as soon as he saw he was certain to be overhauled, Bar had given me to one of his knights and sent us both away in the ship's boat. And that boat was never to be seen again. But of course, that was the same boat that Aslan pushed ashore at the right place for Arsheesh to pick me up. I wish I knew the knight's name, for he must have kept me alive and starved himself to do it."

I couldn't help but grin as Aravis voiced what we were all thinking.

"I suppose Aslan would say that is part of someone's else story."

"I was forgetting that," Cor said. I don't know if Aravis heard him since she kept going.

"And I wonder how the prophecy will work out and what the great danger is you're supposed to save Archenland from."

I ribbed Cor as I winked at Aravis. "Ah, bet here's the thing. They seem to think our good buddy Cor here has already fulfilled it."

Aravis stared for a minute before her face lit up in recognition as she clapped her hands. "Of course! How stupid I am. And how wonderful! Archenland can never be in much greater danger than it was when Rabadash crossed the river with his two hundred horses and you hadn't yet gotten through with your message. Don't you feel proud?"

Shasta glanced somewhat sheepishly. "I think I feel a bit scared."

I butted in again. "Your forgetting something Cor. Like the fact you'll be living at Anvard now.

"Oh, I'd nearly forgotten what I came about. Father wants you to come and live with us.! There's been no lady in the court since my mother died. Do, Aravis. You'll like Father and Corrin. They're not like me – they've been properly brought up. You needn't be afraid that-"

Aravis smirked at Cor. "Oh stop it, or we'll have a real fight. Of course, I'll come!"

I clapped and stood up, startling both of them as they jumped a bit. "Right! Now that we have this out of the way, let's go meet up with the horses." Aravis turned and pointed a finger at me. "And you – my dear Jacob – need to fill us in on what happened after the battle. The pool stopped showing us when the battle ended. Besides, I want to know if justice was given to that pig, Rabadash." I tried to hold the laughter in, but I couldn't do it. I burst out in a giant bellyache laugh. "Hahahaha – oh man – that's just – woo boy. Sorry Aravis, that story is just too funny. No, I'll be glad to tell it. You're going to get a kick out of this one. Trust me. But let's go say bye to the hermit and get on the road. I'll tell you everything after we head out." "Deal."

…

We had been walking this whole time and I spotted the horses as we came around a corner. I heard the two of them talking to each other as we came around the corner. What exactly they were discussing, I never found out. Hwin was the first one to notice us though, and with a merry trot and a grin came bounding over. Bree was right behind her, trotting a little subdued. "

Hwin pushed her snout into my chest and I returned it with a hug. "Jacob! Shasta! Thank the Lion you survived. After the pool stopped showing the battle, we had no idea what happened. And when the pool showed Shasta getting knocked and then stopped showing you, I was worried sick."

"Pardon the interruption, but that was a rather good spot of fighting Jacob, at least for a greenhorn." I looked at Bree, closing my eyes for a minute as the images tried to rush back in. "Yeah, well, I don't want to become good at it." "No one ever wants to my son, it just happens. The only slippery slope is losing your humanity and decency in the middle of it. And if you keep your perspective, you'll be fine." I just nodded. "Oh, I was going to mention this, but it turns out Shasta is the long-lost Prince Cor of Archenland. I know, pretty big shock."

Both Bree and Hwin gaped at Cor while Aravis and I couldn't help a grin. Was it a little cruel to relish in Cor's apparent embarrassment? Probably, although it was awfully hard not to.

"Ah, there are some voices that it does my heart well to hear! Welcome back safe and sound my sons!" We turned around to see the hermit coming over, the smile on his face plain for all of us to see. "And Prince Cor, it does me well to see your highness again." The hermit gave a low bow as Cor arched his eyebrows. "How did you know?" The hermit grinned at us with the same mischievous smile and mysterious eyes.

"How do you think, my Prince. The same way I watched the battle at Anvard today. You see, I have lived a long time and your abduction and subsequent chase were one of many events I watched through this pool. Not all of them pertain to this world either. It was merely a hunch more than anything else, but hearing the story about the lion and seeing you on the stand next to your brother confirmed it."

My eyeballs popped out at the, 'pertain to this world either,' comment." The Hermit chuckled. "Now is not the time to pursue that, my son. However, I do believe you came to say goodbye for now. The impact of that statement hit home hard. Whether we had realized it or not, we had all become rather deep friends with the Hermit. The wise old man continued. "Fear not my friends, I will continue to watch you through the pool and surely Anvard isn't too far to visit. I dare say it will be a much more pleasurable ride, what with knowing the way and no armies on your tail at that."

… **.**

We all shared a good laugh at that comment. Aravis broke the silence and brought us back to reality. "Well, I suppose we should put your saddles back on. Come along then, Bree, Hwin." Before they could walk off though, Cor cleared his throat to grab their attention. "As it turns out, riding talking animals is considered highly rude. Except in times of war, mind you. Everyone must do one's part then anyways. Jacob and I brought enough horses for all of us." They turned to look at me, and I nodded my head in confirmation. "We also brought a couple pack horses to take the saddles, Arvis's armor and the rest of the gear back. I'll go grab them"

"Ahem!" I swiveled my head around to look at the Hermit. "A word if I might, Jacob. There are some things I believe you need to hear." I looked at him with a question mark on my face for a minute. "Oo-k? I guess you're going to have to get the horses Cor." Cor just looked at me and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

I turned and followed the hermit until we ended up in the upper floor library of the springhouse. We pulled up some chairs as I looked around and took in all the detail. "Holy cow man, this is amazing. But what were you going to tell me."

The Hermit stared at me with an intense look of curiosity, searching for something unknown to me. "As you know my son, I can see a good many things through my pool when our heavenly father allows it. Interestingly enough, that can include other worlds sometimes, namely yours for this discussion."

My eyebrows shot up at this one. "Wait, wait, back the truck up here! You're telling me you're a prophet and you can just look at my world."

The hermit chuckled as he got up and started pacing. "Not so much a prophet my son, although I would be honored to have such a blessing. No, dreams would be a better description. Although for me, I see them through the pool. No. I cannot just 'look' as you put it, for I can only see what I am allowed to. And that brings us to why I need to talk to you, for I have seen something that relates directly to you."

That statement was making me nervous. I had to know though. "Um, ok. What exactly did you see then?"

The Hermit smiled again. "I come with a message from our Lord. 'Take heart, my child, for my plans with you are not yet fulfilled. Your greatest moment is coming, yet it will not be an easy or painless one. Be strong, for the gift I will bestow upon will not seem as one at first. It will be a gift that will take time to master and one earned on a hard road. You will meet many friends and some powerful enemies. But take heart, for your true friends will be there with you till the end, and when you reach there, you will know fully why you have been allowed this ability. Continue to honor me and I will use you to bless generations.'"

…

My mouth was hanging open in bewilderment. It seemed impossible, a message straight from God? Yet, there were plenty of instances in History it had happened. I felt an overwhelming desire to get on my knees. The hermit must have sensed it somehow since he interrupted my thoughts.

"No, my son, reserve that honor for Jehovah alone."

I couldn't contain myself. "but what is it, exactly. You said you've seen it, so at least give me some warning."

"No. Telling you could very well change some of the coming events. Besides, who am I to go beyond what He has allowed me to reveal. He doesn't promise us clarity, my son, just we are to rest in His will and leave the outcome up to Him."

I sat there for a minute, lost in thought before I had to burst out laughing. This trip had been crazy enough already. "Oh man, this will take some absorbing. Whoa boy. Alright then, so what now?" "Continue on with your friends I suppose. Unless you heard something else." "No, no I didn't. I guess I better go see how the others are doing so we can be on our way." The hermit threw his arms around me as we walked out. "I do suppose that would be the best. Like our Lord said, my son, take heart. I have lived many years in this realm called Narnia and seen many things, both in the known world and beyond. There have been many uncertainties over the years and at times I have doubted Him. But Christ has never left me alone. I, for one, know I will be there when he makes an end of sin and brings in His eternal kingdom. Until then, I am simply content to rest where God has seen fit to put me."

I didn't really want to say anything else, so I just nodded as we came within earshot of the Cor and the others.

Aravis saw me as she looked up from buckling some saddle straps. "There you are. We're finished and ready. All we lack know are you on a horse and we will be ready to depart.

I just rolled my eyes and grinned. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. The hermit walked over and started saying goodbye to the others as I buckled my sword belt back on and swung myself up on the saddle. My hip still wasn't completely used to the weight, so I'd given myself a break and left the blade and scabbard on my saddle. It's funny though, the weight doesn't even seem to be there anymore. I reckon that's what some crazy adventures and a whole lot of practice will give you.

Except for Bree's tail, he and Hwin were looking themselves again. They each had their regular saddles back on and their coats were nice and glossy again. Arvis's armor and some other bundles I didn't recognize were strapped on the two pack horses. Aravis's scimitar and dagger were strapped to her waist. The guards from earlier had followed Cor and the rest of the horses through the gates and were re-mounted and in position, ready to take back their escort positions as we left.

I looked over to see the Hermit giving Cor and Aravis some hugs. They didn't know I saw, but a few tears escaped. All of us had made a very good friend that day and it was very hard to leave him behind. "Thank you, Sir, for everything. You have shown all of us a great kindness." His eyes twinkled brightly, and his wrinkled cheeks framed a sad smile. "You're very welcome my daughter, although I'm just another servant in the grand scheme of things. And you, my son, you have been given a great opportunity that a precious few receive. Use it well and you will be an honor to your father's throne. Although, I have already seen that spark in you." Cor flushed somewhat and just looked at his shoes with a lopsided grin. "Yes, well, I will try to do that. I suppose we should get going though. It is a fairly long ride back to Anvard." Aravis let out another sigh as they turned around to the horses. Aravis swung up, with Cor following. He was getting pretty good at it by now.

The hermit looked at Bree and Hwin before teasingly asking, "are you sure you don't want another bowl of mash?" They both snorted, and Bree rolled his eyes. "No, my good friend," said Hwin, "that will not be necessary." The Hermit turned his head to one of the guards, nodding that we were ready to head out.

The man straightened slightly as he spoke. "Prince Cor, are you and your companions ready?" Cor gave him a nod. "I believe we are." With that, the guard nodded to the Herald and trumpeter.

Well people, there you have it folks. Arather startling reavalation for our main character, is it not? Not only that, we finally know how Cor ended up in Caloremen! Seriously though, sorry it's taken so long. School and work have been a pain lately, but what do you do?

Progress on the plot for the next book is coming slowly but surely. I'm starting to get the origin of the humans and main villain in Zeron ironed out, as well as putting some thought into how to use the wood between the worlds. That might be the key to the main overarching plot through all the books. Don't know yet.

In other news, I've been catching up on Marvel movies. Ant-Man, awesome! Black Panther, what-the-heck! Speechless! And Infinity War? Powerful. I think we forget the true cost of war sometimes. I also think we forget that even though it's a just war though good always wins in the end, justice can take time to come to fruition. Does that still make the fight to get there worth it? Absolutely.

Anyways…there's a couple more videos up on my YouTube page, so go check those out.

Alright people take care, God bless, and… _Avengers Assemble_!

The Love of Dragons out!


	15. Arrival to Anvard

_**Previously on**_ _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ _ **we discovered the startling revelation that Shasta is none other than Prince Cor of Archenland having been stolen as a baby by an Archenland Lord! At last, we've answered the question of how Shasta came to be in the house of the Caloremene fishermen. But perhaps the strangest part was the Hermit taking Jacob aside and claming he had a message for him from God! With all this out of the way, it's time for Bree, Hwin, and Aravis to finally arrive in Narnia!**_

Chapter Fourteen

We headed out opposite the way we came in. The herald and trumpeter went first, followed by the first two guards up front. Cor was next in line, with the pack horse holding Arvis's armor tied to his saddle horn. Aravis and I were next in row, with Bree and Hwin bringing up the rear. The final pack horse with the rest of our belongings had its halter rope tied to Arvis's saddle.

Everyone was silent for a minute as we heard the Hermit close the gate behind us. Aravis turned to me with a very stern look. "Now, are you going to fill us in on the large gap of time between the fight at Anvard and showing up at our front gate? Because you, good sir, owe us an explanation."

I grunted. "Yeah, sorry about it cutting off when it did, you guys probably left the pool with no idea what happened to us." "Aye lad." I heard Bree behind me and I turned around as best I could in the saddle and gave him a nod. "Oh boy. This story is going to take a while. Well, the last thing you saw was King Lune comparing Cor & Corin. Right?" Aravis nodded her head. "Yes. The sound had stopped, so we all rather lost interest and went back to our own activities."

I grunted again and kept going. "Mm. Ok then, after that King Lune finished establishing that Cor was the long-lost twin everybody kept cheering for; I reckon it was a good five minutes. Apparently, they all thought he was dead and had simply given up hope. I can't really blame them though, I mean there was no way for them to know any different. The cheering died down and everybody started spreading out and doing whatever they had to."

"The castle medics were out and I saw then starting to ferry the injured into the castle where I could see tents and probably triage units set up. I only took one look behind me. God help me, I'm never going to be able to get that picture out of my mind. None of the giants were killed and only one was wounded, an arrow through the eye. The rest of them had changed back to their regular boots and were working on cleaning up the battlefield. And then-"

"That was when Father came up to us."

I scowled at him for a second. "Hey now, who's telling this, you or me?"

"Well, you are." Cor stopped and looked at me when I started chuckling.

"Oh man. Cor, you are funny. Anyways, after everyone finished cheering about the revelation, Edmund come up and congratulated us on making it through. A few of the other lords had come up and I had a brief introduction with them."

I heard Aravis chortle behind me. "Introduce? I would imagine he did it so fast you could hardly keep up!"

Cor didn't miss the eye roll I gave in response. "Ha, you should have seen this guy. He had the 'oh – for – the - love – of – Sam – Hill' look on his face!"

Bree was trying to hold in a snort behind me. Emphasis on the word 'try'. "I'm sorry Jacob, but I would have loved to see their response."

I grinned as I reflected on the moment. "Hee, hee, very funny. Ok, I do have to admit it was a pretty good reaction. The looks basically ranged from bemusement to total misunderstanding. Or confusion, whichever one you want. Matter of fact another ten-minute conversation ensued with Dar and Darrin. By that point, the only people left standing there were King Lune, Edmund, Dar and Darrin, and myself."

"Oh, and might I presume you had become so engrossed in the conversation that you lost track of everything else?"

I turned around and gave Hwin a flat stare. "What! No, of course not! I was – yeah, I was pretty much oblivious to everything else." My eyebrows arched up as Hwin just shook her head. "Hey now, I'm working on it"

Bree smiled and nodded his head at me. "I'm sure you are. I for one can see an improvement. Now, I might suggest that we finish up with the story. I suspect we're getting close to the castle."

Bree's comment prompted me to take stock of the scenery around us. We _were_ getting close now that I thought about it. "Huh, you're right. _**Anyways,**_ Edmund finally mentioned we should probably head inside. The giants, Narnian and Archenland soldiers had finished on the outside. I can't tell you how nice it was to go from the site outside the walls to inside the castle. There was still the aftermath inside, but it was mostly a few spent or unused arrows. There weren't bodies lying everywhere. To be perfectly frank I don't think any of us wanted to do anything except sleep. I think Edmund knew I just wanted to get away from it all for a minute though. That was when he essentially ordered us to come and get you guys."

Aravis lost all composure for a moment and actually snorted. "Oh pray tell, I see how it is now. You only came here because you **_had_** to! And here I utterly believed you were a knight in shining armor?"

I couldn't say anything to that for a minute and just sat there with my jaw dropped. Bree snorted first, which made Cor start chuckling. Cor laughter set of Hwin, which set off Aravis, and finally me. We had a solid minute of just laughing as we started coming down off the slope in front of the castle. I finally managed to catch my breath and turned to Aravis. "Oh, good night! Thank you for the laughter, I really needed that." Aravis just grinned ear to ear. "you're very welcome."

Nothing more needed to be said as we neared the castle. Without the battle going on, the imposing stone structure looked quite beautiful with the warm reddish stone silhouetted against the wooded ridge behind it. The gates opened before we got there, and a short procession came out of the gates. It was King Lune and a couple soldiers. Without a grim expression hidden behind a helmet and mail, King Lune had an enormous rosy smile. His eyes twinkled and his moderate girth was covered by a modest pair of breeches and shirt. He must have noticed the puzzled look I had because he addressed me with a short explanation before focusing on Aravis.

"Forgive the appearance all, I have been checking on the hunting hounds. I'm afraid we had to put them away rather hurriedly, what with the business at hand. Little lady," he said as he bowed toward Aravis, "we bid you very heartily welcome. If my dear wife were still alive we could make you better cheer but could not do it with a better will. And I am sorry that you have had misfortunes and been driven from your father's house, which cannot but be a grief for you.

My son Cor has told me all about your adventures together and your valor."

I saw Aravis blush just a tad out of the corner of my eye. "It was he who did all that sir. Why he rushed at a lion to save me."

King Lune simultaneously broke out in a grin and arched his eyebrow in Cor's direction. I couldn't help but grin, knowing King Lune would pry the story out later. "Eh, what's that? I haven't heard that part of the story.

The opportunity that had presented itself was simply too good to pass up. "Whoa, whoa, back the truck up a minute, you did what! Oh man, I have got to hear this one." Aravis proceeded to relate the story to all her usual embellishment. In fact, King Lune was so impressed he related it in virtually every conversation for the next two weeks. By that point, Cor, along with the rest of us was starting to get sick of it. King Lune wasn't done yet, though. He turned to Bree and Hwin and started asking them questions. Aravis, Cor, and I watched with belated humor as the horses tried to deal with the surprise of being talked to as regular grown-ups.

During the whole conversation, I noticed Lucy and Edmund come out of the castle. Corin was behind the two of them and grinning from ear to ear. As soon as he got close enough he gave me a snort and a light punch in the shoulder.

"Well, good to see you made it back. I was afraid you would end up lost, turned around on the pass or something like that." I just rolled my eyes and Corin burst out laughing, King Lune and Edmund let out a chuckle, and the others just smiled.

Lucy took the opportunity to slide up and give me a hug. "I am glad to see you made it through both the battle and the journey. If you ever need to talk about any of it, we're here for you." I just swallowed and nodded. Lucy waited for me to finish the nod and then turned to Aravis as King Lune cleared his throat.

"My dear this is a loving friend of our house, and she has been seeing that your apartments are put to rights for you better than I could have done it."

Lucy leaned down and gave Aravis a kiss on the cheek before motioning to the castle. 'You would like to see them, wouldn't you?" You could tell they hit it off instantly, and they walked off talking about the bedroom, clothes, and whatever else girls usually talk about.

King Lune turned back and addressed Bree and Hwin. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, I took the liberty of setting up some fresh stalls for your comfort. You shall have full run of the grass and pastures, of course, and there are multiple groomsmen around the clock…"

As they made it out of earshot, I looked at Edmund and lazily pointed toward the castle. "So, I reckon I should see where I'm bunking."

Edmund just laughed before giving me a slap on the back and starting toward the castle with me. "Yes, we should. And after I show you your quarters for the night, I would like to show you the training area. I know you're still trying to deal with your first battle, but the longer you wait to practice runs the risk of being a serious detriment. But enough of that gloomy talk, for now, I believe King Lune has planned for all of us to eat on the terrace for lunch. The selection is reputed to be a bird with some game pie and cheese and bread."

"My eyeballs enlarged as I coughed in surprise. "Birds? Ahh, Edmund, remind me to explain something about how we eat back home sometime." I shuddered at the food item "bird" meant.

We made our way through the hallways with their twists and turns before we ended up at my temporary quarters. I barely managed to remember the way, as all the twists and turns lefts me seriously turned around. We passed by a few of the maids on staff and each one gave us a curtsy. Edmund nodded back politely, and I would just give a short nod and tell them hi.

The room was small, with just enough walking room to get through. I wasn't expecting much anyways since the room was used for just overnight stays. There was the bed in front of me, and next to the door on my right, a chair and table with a washbasin and well used a mirror. A small wardrobe was in the corner next to the bed. I noticed there weren't any extra clothes yet, although that was the last thing I was expecting them to have ready. We had just come through a battle, after all.

"Oh man, can we please get me out of this armor? I'm hot, sweaty, and my legs feel like Jell-O."

Edmund looked at me a minute before asking, "pardon me, but what exactly is 'Jell-O'"

I just shook my head. "Ag, never mind, explanations later, removing this sweat bath first." I started fumbling with the sword-belt, trying to work my armored fingers around the belt. One thing was for sure, this was a learned art. After about twenty minutes of fumbling, I was out of the armor and Gambeson underneath it, down to a scratchy shirt and pair of breeches.

"Ooh-my-word." I groaned as I collapsed on the bed. "I-am-sore."

Edmund chuckled behind me. "You'll get used to it, I'm sure."

Edmund had no idea at the time how predictive that statement was.

I rolled over an looked at him with a scowl. "Oh yeah, sure. Laugh it up, why don't you. Traitor." The statement didn't help, simply causing Edmund to double over as he let out a guffaw. "Hmm. Well, I have to start directing feast preparations, so I shall see you shortly. Do I need to have someone wake you up in a bit?

"Ahh, no." The long yawn I let out betrayed me though.

"Uh-huh. I'll send someone anyways."

I didn't say anything, waving him off with a lazy swipe of my hand before rolling over on my stomach.

The bedchamber door closed behind me with a solid clank. Sleep was pulling at my eyelids, even though a million thoughts ran through my head. I needed to lay there and absorb everything, still trying to process how I had just been through an actual battle. That was what I wanted to do. But sleep, it just wouldn't let me. Before I could stop myself, sleep dragged me into its warm embrace and I drifted into blackness.

Crash! "What, what! I jerked awake, rolling over onto my back and fumbling for my sword laying on the other side of the bed.

"Apologies milord, I'm Clarisse, one of the maids."

"Oh. Sorry, Clarisse, I didn't mean to scare you. What went crash anyway? Oh, never mind." My gaze wandered over to the now disheveled pile of armor on top of the trunk. I also noticed the fact that Clarisse had my normal clothes folded, along with my belts, boots and cowboy hat. "Yes! I can finally get into my own clothes again!"

The comment brought a smile to Clarisse's face as she watched my antics. "Yes, well. I am also to inform you that the meal shall be served in approximately twenty minutes."

"Okay then. Thanks, Clarisse."

"Your welcome good sir."

Clarisse set the clothes down, and closing the door behind her, left me on my own again. I took one look at the pile before I changed as fast as I could scramble. Oh-my-word. Trading in the itchy factor for that modern cotton and rayon blend felt heavenly. The look was rounded out with my well-worn black cowboy boots, "faith" belt buckle, and straw hat. I almost walked out of the chamber before I remembered my sword belt. After securing the sword-belt and making sure the blade was safely in the scabbard, I headed for the dining hall.

Now, I will admit I probably looked somewhat ridiculous with a sword belt wrapped around Wrangler jeans and the full western getup. Either way, I would end up wearing that look fairly often. After three or four wrong turns, and accidentally winding up in the kitchen, Clarisse managed to get me to the main corridor leading to the terrace. Just as I finished thanking her, I turned around and ran straight into Susan.

"Oooph!"

"Ow!" The weight of my sword belt caught me for a second and I landed hard on the stone floor.

"Oh my, I am so sorry!" Susan looked horrified as I started getting up.

"Ahh. Forget about it. Nobody got hurt."

"Still, I am sorry."

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. "Really Susan, it's fine." She gave me a nod as we continued toward the dining hall, conversing as we went. "When are you going to fill me in on some gaps in your story?"

"Uh, what do you want to know?"

"Well, for starters, what are you wearing?"

I looked down at my Norfolk Southern shirt. "Oh, this? T-shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat." I motioned to everything as we walked, sticking my foot out so she could the boots.

Another two turns brought us down a short corridor before we came to the balcony. The balcony itself was situated on the backside of the castle, measuring about fifteen by thirty feet. That was my guess anyway. Various chairs and plants were scattered around, and a decent sized table was in the middle. There was another door at the far end of the balcony, which turned out to be a private access to King Lune's bedchamber. Did I mention the view? It was Stunning. A meadow spread out around the castle, covered in grass and flowers. There was a small shed and circular corral before the grass disappeared into the thick forest. The forest reached to the horizon, the forest canopy starting up the mountainside. The ridge we had come over at the start of the battle continued, forming a horseshoe shape. The ridge on the south side of the castle stopped short, angling down south. Eventually, the ridge would turn west, until turning south to form the border with Telmar.

King Lune was seated at the head of the table on the north side, with Ed on his left and an empty spot on his right. I figured that was for Susan. Beardstead was seated on Edmund's left and Mr. Tumnus was across from him, next to Susan's empty spot. Grimsby was talking with Destrier and Shas– Cor, was leaning up against the railing, talking with Corrin. Cor was the first to see me, eyebrows arching upward. The Lords Dar and Darrin were conversing among themselves. The last two empty spots had to be theirs

"Hey, what have you done with Jacob!"

This time I definitely rolled my eyes. "Very funny Cor. You should be the first to recognize me. I mean, this is what I was wearing when Bree unceremoniously tried to squish my head."

"He wasn't trying to squish your head and you know it."

I grunted in reply. "Pfft. You go with that when you're the one about to get stomped on."

"Ahem!" King Lune cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention for a minute. "Pardon the interruption, but what are those clothes you're wearing, they're certainly not from Archenland or Narnia. I doubt they're even from Calormene for that matter."

"No, they're not. Y'all might as well settle in, this is going to be a story."

"I believe we should sit then." Everyone had stood up when Susan came in, so we shuffled to our seats. Let me tell you something. Sitting down with a two-and-a-half-foot sword belted on is…interesting. I finally managed to get it done, settling in to share my tale.

 _ **Well, everyone, that's another chapter done! Anyways, in other news, I've posted another few videos on my YouTube videos. Just finished a layout update, and I've actually got a very cool one about a stained-glass restoration/art gallery and store coming. I've just got to sit down and get the footage run through the editor! The owner's also agreed to let me come back and do some proper interviews about some of the processes and what not, so be looking for that. In novel related news, I'm honestly closing in on the end this time. I've gotten the raw typing up through the Narnians and Jacob returning to Narnia. All I've got left to type at this point is the formal arrival and some introduction/relationship building with Lucy and Peter. Wrap-up paragraph and epilogue after that and then it's on to book two. As of now, the planned name is**_ _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles: Dragons Made Real**_ __

 _ **Anyways, as always, take care and God Bless!**_

 _ **Love of Dragons out!**_


	16. What Happened to Rabadash

_**Previously on**_ _ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ _ **, we saw Jacob and Shasta ride south to bring Aravis, Bree and Hwin back to Anvard. After introducing them to King Lune and Queen Susan, everyone crashed for the night before reconvening so Jacob can share his whole story and hopefully stop some of the inevitable gossip from spreading. Anyways, let's listen in!**_

Chapter 15

Nothing was said for a minute as I pondered where to start. "Ok. Some of you have heard parts of this story, but I going to tell all of it for those who haven't. Well, as you can tell from the garb, I'm not from around here. Matter of fact, I'm not even from this universe or even from this dimension. I'm from a different world entirely. Ahh man, how do I explain that? So, think of it like this then. Imagine the stars, planets, space, time, energy – everything, is contained inside a giant round pot. Now, put another pot beside it, with its space and time, galaxies, civilization, everything. The space between them is the – well – nothing outside of time and space itself. I live in that other pot, and for whatever reason God allowed me to get transported over to the pot that this world is in. And no, this jumping between pots doesn't normally happen. Created beings are bound inside the laws of time and space. So yeah, that's the best explanation I have.

"Anyways, I'm from a country called America. We've been in existence for about 300 years, founded on – heck – essentially everything Aslan represents. The country is split into 50 states or provinces as you would call them. The state I'm from is called Missouri and it's basically a farming town. Everyone keeping up so far?"

I glanced around. Ed and Susan's expressions were unreadable. Cor was somewhat listening since he had already heard this part. Corrin, on the other hand, was staring perplexed as he took it all in. King Lune had a similar expression while Dar and Darrin looked rather skeptical.

The looks remained unchanged, so I continued.

"The way I ended up here was by accident. Honestly. Some friends and I were out on a camping trip when I had to get up during the night. This is the part where it really gets weird. When I came out of the tent, I looked over and saw a campfire going and thought it was ours. Obviously, it wasn't. In my, well, ignorance I started walking toward it and felt this weird tingling. That had to have been when I crossed over. By the time I was close enough to see the figures I panicked and tried to hide. No luck since Bree found me.

"So yeah, that was when I met up with Aravis, Bree, and Hwin. We kept going until we finally had to make a plan to get through Tashbaan. It took some debating, but we ultimately decided to disguise ourselves and just try to sneak through."

King Lune grunted, catching everyone's attention. "Surely though, Bree and Hwin couldn't have led you through the city, the attention would have discovered you."

Edmund let out a chuckle as he recalled the memory. "I assure you, that was not what gave him away from friends. In fact, their disguises were impeccable. No, what gave the ruse up was Cor's looks. All the disguises in Narnia couldn't have hidden his eyes or look."

"And honestly, I rather panicked and dragged Jacob into it in the first place." All eyes were suddenly on Cor. "That's where the story came from. We were all afraid we had been captured, destined to be returned where we came from, or worse."

Susan nodded her head. "Ahh. I understand now. You couldn't say anything about where Jacob really came from, hence the story about the bullies."

Cor looked over at me, so I took that as my cue to pick the narration back up. "Yeah, pretty much. I was so shocked by the tale that I couldn't spit anything out. Which was probably a good thing. Edmund and Peridian grabbed us and we were hustled off before our heads could process anything."

"Well then, I take it that was when the mix-up happened. And I am sorry about the scare, friend."

I rolled my eyes at the comment. "Peridian, will you just stop it? Look, it was an honest mistake under horrible situations. You couldn't have done anything differently. Just forget about it and move on. It's called grace Peridian." The man lets a smile crack before Grimsby interrupted.

"Beards and bedsteads lad! Don't keep us in suspense now, how did you escape!"

"Ahh. I'm getting to that! Actually, Mr. Tumnus should probably explain this bit." I sat down before anyone could object, their heads swiveling around to stare at the faun.

Well your majesties, when Prince Cor and Jacob came in, we were all smothering them with questions when I noticed that both looked as pale as a sheet. Of course, being an observant faun, I decided they had the flu. Of course, looking back the misunderstanding now, the poor lads were obviously scared to death. So, I went at once to fetch some iced sherbert for Prince Cor, who I thought was Corrin, and when I came back, Jacob asked me about portals. I'm afraid to admit I actually feared to give him an answer. That can be a rather touchy subject."

Everyone nodded their heads and I let out a sigh. "Yeah, Edmund and I already talked about that a few days ago."

"Well, that's resolved then." The faun nervously pattered his hooves before continuing. "Prince Corr-Cor had fallen asleep, so I took Jacob out to ask that question to the others gathered. I didn't expect to plan an escape at that moment."

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. "yeah, sorry about that guys, I was still pretty scared and wasn't thinking that straight."

"That was when we hatched our plan." Everyone craned their heads back around as Susan took up the narration. "When we finished planning, Mr. Tumnus took Jacob back in so he could rest while my brother and our company went about the preparations. That must have been when Corrin came back. Was it?"

Corrin just nodded in affirmation. "Ironically, Cor was actually correct. I had snuck out to explore and came across a group of bullies that were putting Her Majesty down. I knocked one of them down and he went howling off. I thought the trollop had left when he appeared with some of his comrades. I managed to stop them before making my way back, climbing up to the window and knocking over a vase in the process. Jacob, you must be a hard sleeper to have slept through that."

I nodded. "yeah, I hadn't gotten any decent sleep until then. I guess the combination of shock and exhaustion finally caught up with me. When I truly sleep though, I usually sleep really deep like that."

Edmund grunted, catching our attention and finishing out the story. "Yes, well. We made it safely onto the ship that night, arriving at Cair Paravel the next morning. It took us a day to assemble the army and start making our way south. Chervy showed up at that point, mumbling about a boy named Shasta showing up and going about Rabadash and two-hundred horse attacking Anvard. Looking back, that was obviously Cor. How did you end up there?"

"After we made it out of Tashbaan and across the desert, we were about to collapse when we were attacked by lions. And no, I am not telling that story again. If you want to know, ask Corrin." Cor jerked a finger at his brother, leveling a smirk that earned laughter all around. "That was when the Hermit showed up. We hobbled inside, and he sent me on, telling me to head straight north no matter what. The hermit said he knew so by his arts. I was tired, but I ran anyways. By the time I ran into father, I was ready to collapse."

King Lune harrumphed. "You certainly gave your poor old father a fright. But, still, you did the right thing son. Cor smiled. "I know that now father, thank-you. Anyways, to borrow Jacob's phrase, I was given a horse, but fell behind and was caught up in the mist on the pass. By the morning, I had wandered down into the woods and stopped for breakfast at a tree house. That was when I ran into Edmund and the others. You certainly know the rest."

"Excuse me Your Majesties, Lords, guests, the meal is ready to be served."

I had completely forgotten that we were having a bird. My stomach started getting anxious again, but I managed to hold it down. To my utter relief, the "bird" had been cleaned and breaded. I don't know what they used as a spice, but it made the bird taste like a cross between fish and chicken. Not my favorite, but decent. The meal was rounded out by grapes, some excellent bread, and mutton. I didn't touch the wine. The conversation ceased for about fifteen minutes while the dishes were set out and everyone filled their plates. Desert was meat pie and cheese.

Finally, King Lune gave a satisfied sigh, contentedly patting his slightly larger girth. He scrunched up his brow as he steered the conversation toward an unpleasant topic. "Heigh-ho' We still have that sorry creature Rabadash on our hands, my friends, and must resolve what to do with him."

Peridian snorted. "Your Majesty would have a perfect right to strike off his head. Such an assault puts him on a level with a common assassin."

Edmund suddenly furrowed his brow, heavy concentration evidenced on his face. "It is very true. But even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did."

My eyebrows arched at the mention, recalling Edmund's betrayal and Aslan's sacrifice during the war with Jadis, the White Witch.

"To kill this Rabadash would go near to raising war with Calormene and the Tisroc," Darrin cautioned.

King Lune guffawed in response. "A fig for the Tisroc. His strength is in numbers, and numbers will never cross the desert. But I have no stomach for killing men, even traitors in cold blood. To have cut his throat in battle would have eased my heart mightily, but this is a different thing."

"By my counsel," said Lucy, "your majesty shall give him another trial. Let him go free on strait promise of fair dealing in the future. It may be that he will keep his word."

"Maybe Apes will grow honest, Sister. But, by the Lion, if he breaks it again, may it be in such time and place that any of us could cut off his head in clean battle."

"Well then, let us finish this." Head nodded in agreement with Susan as everyone filed back through the halls into the throne room.

It took a half hour for everyone to settle in the throne room and figure out the seating arrangement. When we were finally finished, king Lune set at the head of the table with Lucy on his right and Aravis on his left. Edmund was at one end of the table with Darrin facing him on the other. Cor was seated next to Aravis and Corin was seated next to Lucy. Peridian was between Lucy and Edmund and Dar had one of the two remaining spots between Darrin and Cor.

I was starting to leave the room when Edmund told me to come over and take the remaining seat. I stared at him for a second with surprise etched over my face. "Ahh…what?"

Edmund simply motioned to the vacant seat and nodded. "Sit. You have earned your seat with this group, have you not?"

"Ok?" My steps were hesitant as I took my seat. Before I could finish processing it though, Lune nodded to the guards and they brought Rabadash in. The man looked like a mess. The clothes were disheveled grime covered. In fact, he had turned his nose up at any attempts to make him comfortable, ignoring his supper and spending the whole night pacing and cursing.

King Lune was the first one to breach the silence. "Your royal highness needs not be told that by the law of nations as well as all means of prudent policy, we have as good a right to your head as ever one mortal man had against another. Nevertheless, in consideration of your youth and the ill nurture, devoid of all gentleness and courtesy, which you have doubtless had in the land of slaves and tyrants, we are disposed to set you free, unharmed, on these conditions. First, that—"

Red had slowly been spreading over Rabadash's face, finally causing him to blurt out in a rage. "Curse you for a barbarian dog! You think I will even hear your conditions? Faugh! You talk largely of nurture and I know not what. It's easy to a man in chains, ha! Take of these vile bonds, give me a sword, and then let any of you dare to debate with me!"

The insult granted an instantaneous response, everyone leaping to their feet with shouts of indignation. Well, everyone except Corrin. His was different.

"Father! Can I box him, please!"

King Lune shouted out in response, attempting to regain the situation. "Peace! Your Majesties! My Lords! Have we no more gravity among us than to be taunted by a pajock? Sit down, Corrin! Or though shalt leave the table! I ask your Highness again, hear our conditions.

Rabadash's response was unchanged. "I hear no conditions from dogs and sorcerers, not one of you dare touch a hair on my head. Every insult you have heaped on me shall be paid with oceans of Narnia and Archenland blood. Terrible shall the vengeance of the Tisroc be; even now. But kill me, and the burning and torturing are in these northern lands shall become a tale to frighten the world even a thousand years hence. Beware! Beware! Beware! The bolt of Tash falls from above!"

Corrin took the opportunity to interrupt. "Does it ever get caught on a hook halfway down?" I barely contained a snorting laugh as king Lune rebuked his son. "Shame, Corrin. Never taunt a man save when he is stronger than you: then, as you please."

"Oh, you foolish Rabadash." Lucy let out a long sigh as everyone stood on their feet.

At first, neither Cor or I knew what was causing the stir, but we followed anyways. And then we saw him. Aslan.

No one had seen him come in, but now we all saw The Great Lion and the air itself that seemed to be glowing around him. He padded over to Rabadash, the man's face temporarily shifting from rage to panic before reverting to a smirk of contempt. Aslan was now pacing back forth between our table and Rabadash. And when he spoke, it was in the same indescribable voice.

"Rabadash, take heed. Your doom is very near, but you may still avoid it. Forget your pride, for what have you to be proud of? Forget your anger, for who has done you wrong? Now, Rabadash, accept the mercy of these good kings."

The man was completely unmoved, instead of rolling his eyes back in his skull like the man was demonically possessed. The grin he plastered on was so large I thought the skin would be permanently stretched. And then he topped it off by wagging his ears up and down.

Heaven have mercy, that was just – ach – one of the most horrible things I've seen. I don't know what it was supposed to do in Calormene. Make people lose their lunch maybe? Heave? I don't know. All I knew was I never wanted to see it again. I wasn't the only one. I heard Susan and Lucy cover a snort, though I never let on I had heard it.

Rabadash kept going, the volume of his voice turning into a shriek. I just wanted to grimace and slap my hands over my ears, but I think our brains were still trying to catch up.

"Demon, demon, demon! I know you. You are the foul fiend of Narnia. You are the enemy of the gods. Learn who I am, horrible phantasm. I am descended from Tash, the inexorable, the irresistible. The curse of Tash is upon you. Lightning in the shape of scorpions shall be rained on you! The mountains of Narnia shall be ground into dust! The…"

With an echo that seemed to shake the world, Aslan made his proclamation. "The hour has struck!"

What happened to Rabadash next nearly made me faint. To be quite frank, it shattered everything I thought was possible. Again.

Rabadash had started changing. Rabadash's ears grew and short grey stubble appeared. Before we could tell what type of ears those were Rabadash's face changed, growing longer and thicker at the top. The eyes bulged, and his face was covered with the same short, gray stubble. His arms doubled in size, and when his hands touched the ground they had been turned into hooves. The former Calormene prince was now standing on all four limbs, his legs having undergone the same transformation, just without the length increase. The clothes had disappeared, being replaced with brown fur and a white stripe down Rabadash's chest. Well, belly, since he was standing on all four limbs. Rabadash's lower half hadn't escaped the transformation either. Like a snake crawling out of a hole, a thin brown strip had slinked out before increasing in thickness. The new tail sprouted stubble and ended in a puffy tuft of brown fur.

The great Tash had been turned into a donkey.

The laughter in the room had been slowly building, King Lune's booming laughter echoing across the room. The others followed, first Lucy, then Edmund and Beardstead, before the others caught the laughter. I was the last, the insanity overriding the shock as I joined the laughter. To be honest, though, mine was more from the sheer incredulity of what I was seeing.

Aslan finally spoke again. "Now hear me, Rabadash. Justice shall be mixed with mercy. You shall not always be an Ass."

The donkey that used to be Rabadash twitched his ears forward, looking at Aslan with some sort of half sneer, half shocked oval.

That did it. Whatever containment or hold on decorum we had disappeared at Aslan's unwitting joke. Susan, Edmund, and Lucy's laughter turned into bellyaching cackles, Beardstead and Grimsby were laughing so hard they fell out of their chairs and Destrier's laugh turned into a whinny. Peridian had actually started snorting. As for me, I had gone into a string of chuckles that just wouldn't stop.

The laughter finally slowed down just enough for Aslan to finish speaking. "You have appealed to Tash, and in the temple of Tash, you shall be healed. You must stand before the altar of Tash in Tashbaan at the Autumn Feast this year and there, in the sight of all Tashbaan, your ass's shape will fall from you and all men will know you for Prince Rabadash. But as long as you live, if ever you go more than ten miles away from the temple of Tash you shall instantly become as you now are. And from that second change, there shall be no return.

The next moment, we were all looking around wildly at each other as if we had just woken up. That was when we noticed a critical difference. Aslan had disappeared. King Lune's enormous compassion came through immediately, the sight of the former Prince Rabadash bringing his temporary situation back to the forefront.

"Your Royal Highness, I am truly sorry that things have come to this state. Your Highness will bear witness that it was none of our doing. And of course, we will be delighted to provide you transport back to Tashbaan for the – err – treatment Aslan has prescribed. You shall have every comfort which your Highness's situation allows: the best of the cattle-boats – the freshest carrots and thistles…"

Rabadash silenced the offer with a deafening bay and a well-aimed kick at one of the guards, the poor guy grunting and holding his shin in pain. To his credit though, he did manage to stay on his feet, giving only a slight stumble and grunt.

Well, everything went as Aslan said. Rabadash was returned to Tashbann and returned to his human self at the Autumn Festival. Perhaps the best side effect of the whole debacle was the fact that he became the most peaceable Tisrock in Caloremene history. The self-obsessed man didn't want any of his generals winning glory for themselves and the possibility of a revolt. I would end up coming back to Narnia to help stop a revolt, but it wouldn't have to do with Rabadash. That story is for another time though.

Suffice it to say, after the guards had managed to lead Rabadash out of the hall, we got down to the real fun. While we had been engaged in the rather unpleasant incident with Rabadash, the castle and soldiers had been rushing around. The fallen had been separated, the Caloremen respectfully buried in mass graves and the Narnians wrapped in Canvas and doused in perfume. One of the Eagles had taken the victory message back to Cair Paravel, along with a request for troop transports to take the Narnians home. That wouldn't happen until the morning though.

In the meantime, Anvard's formal lawn had been turned into a paradise. Lanterns helped with the moonlight, white wine, and grape juice were opened. With the flowing drinks came flowing stories. Aravis, Cor, and I recounted our stories, the real adventures coming out now that King Lune and the others had been brought up to speed. I did leave out the details about America though, simply saying I came from the far-off country of America.

Cor, Aravis, and I had all thought it all to be somewhat boring, but the "band" immediately struck up a tune. I don't know how to describe the music, because frankly, I haven't heard anything quite like it since. I was an assortment of old faun and dwarf music that made you want to just get out and dance. I managed to restrain myself from that particular idea. One, I sucked, and two, I sucked.

And finally, to top it all off, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy obligingly told the story of Jadis and how they came into Narnia, to begin with. Up here in Archenland and Narnia, the account was revered with reverence, quite the contrast to the secrecy required in Calormene.

The party finally died down, everyone starting to split up. Cor, Corrin, and Aravis were all the same bedroom wing with King Lune. Aravis had her own hallway with the rest of the ladies, Cor and Corrin's rooms being in the men's hall. Edmund, Susan, myself, and the rest of the were in the foreigner's wing. Our wing also had separate halls for the men and women. Just before everyone split, added one more admonishment.

"And tomorrow, Cor, though shalt tour all the castle with me and see the estate, marking all its strengths and weaknesses. For it shall be yours when I have passed."

Cor looked dumbstruck for a minute before he asked out of confusion, "but Corin shall be King then father."

King Lune looked thoughtful for a minute, chewing his bottom lip. "Nay lad, thou art my heir, the crown comes to thee."

Cor jaw dropped, his voice sputtering as he started objecting. "but I don't want it, Father, I'd far rather…"

King Lune put his hand up, stopping Cor. "This no question what though want Cor, nor I either. It is the course of the law, and everyone, even the king, must be under the law."

Cor look had gone from crossed to sour. "But if we're twins we must be the same age."

King Lune shook his head and let out a chuckle. "Nay, one must come first. Art Corrin's elder by a full – err – twenty minutes. And his better too, let's hope, though that's no great mastery." The king's eyes twinkled as he looked at Corin.

"But father, couldn't you make whichever you like to be the next king?"

"No Cor. The king is under the law, for it is the law that makes him a king. Though hast no more power to start away from thy crown than any sentry from his post."

"Oh dear. I don't want it at all. And Corrin, I am most dreadfully sorry. I never dreamed my turning up was going to chisel you out of your kingdom.

Instead of looking disappointed, Corrin seemed absolutely elated. "Hurray! Hurray! I shan't have to be king! I shan't have to be king! I'll always be a prince, and princes have all the fun."

I just looked at the two and shook my head. "Oh boy, I don't think the castle is going to

survive."

Edmund and Peridian shared a mischievous grin before Peridian voiced their thoughts. "Then perhaps we shouldn't let you back into Cair Paravel."

I just stared there in shock for a minute. "NO!"

That did it because everyone burst out in chuckles. Susan was the one who finally ended the discussion. "Well, you _boys_ may stay up if you like, but Lady Aravis and I are going to retire for the night." She winked as She grabbed Aravis in a walking hug and walked off towards the ladies wing.

I lightly punched Peridian on the shoulder as we walked toward our rooms, grinning at him and muttering "cheapskate."

Peridian and Edmund ended up opposite the hallway form me with Beardstead and Grimsby in the room too my right.

The thought of sleep dulled my mind, my fingers fumbling to undo the sword belt before letting it thunk on the chest at the foot of my bed. I managed to crawl under the covers and pull them up just as the blackness of sleep took over.

 **And there you have it folks, Jacob doesn't have to worry about misunderstanding or unintentional secrets anymore. Obviously, they won't spill the beans about him being from another dimension, probably using the good old "from a faraway land" explanation instead. And Poor Rabadash! Oh well, maybe the ass (pun intended!) will finally learn his lesson. Who knows, maybe he'll show up again. Anyways, stayed tuned as we see Jacob and our original party finally make it to Narnia. But hey, that's next time.**

 **As always, take care and God bless!**

 **The Love of Dragons out!**


	17. Narnia, finally!

**Previously in The** _ **Dragon Rider Chronicles**_ **we finally saw justice served! Rabadash suffered a rather…befitting…punishment and Jacob's growing circle of Narnian Friends gathered together to hear his whole story. With the danger out of the way, our group can put everything behind them, and return to a hero's welcome in Narnia. At least, that's what we hope. There're a few surprises instore for Jacob yet, including a rather interesting promotion. Let's rejoin the story and see what's in store!**

…

Chapter 16

My sweet reprieve from sleep was interrupted by a knocking on the door. "We're late for breakfast.

My first reaction was to mutter "aw nuts" and try to scramble out of bead without completely throwing the covers back. "Ooof!" I landed on the floor with a thud. "Oh, Sam Hill. Ow."

"You okay Jacob?"

"Yeah. Just peachy. Seriously though, I'm fine. Give me a couple minutes and I'll be out." Edmund's chuckling could be heard through the door. "Yes, well. When you're ready, join us on the terrace for breakfast." The clack of his riding boots on the stone slowly faded.

I managed to pull my jeans, boots, and shirt on, before clicking my sword belt into place. I inadvertently caught a whiff of my shirt. "Oh gosh. I smell like a giant soap bar."

With my face refreshed from a splash of cold water, I walked out the door and towards breakfast. When I made it out to the terrace, I noticed the decidedly smaller group we had this morning. "What's with the people drop?"

King Lune answered. "Heigh-ho, then. Peridian usually has breakfast with my Lords when he visits. Beardstead and Grimsby choose to breakfast with the other Narnians, and Destrier and his brother are eating with Bree and Hwin."

"Ah." My muttering acknowledgment was distracted by all the food ready for eating.

"Well," Cor intoned, "don't stand there staring at the food, eat it!"

I shook my head and took a seat. "Oh, oh, right."

The distinct crunching sound indicated King Lune had started on an apple. "Now then lad, I assume the accommodations were to your liking?"

My reply was temporarily interrupted by Clarisse coming out to announce that breakfast was ready to be served. King Lune acknowledged with a thank-you and the meal was served. Quite frankly, it was delicious. There was a stem of deep burgundy red grapes, lightly browned toast with real butter on it - I haven't had better since – and a soft-boiled egg in a goblet. My second goblet had fresh orange juice in it, as did Cor and King Lune. Corrin's was full of fresh milk.

…

There was silent munching for a few minutes until Corin asked what I thought of my visit so far.

"Pff. Well, gosh. It's been fine if by fine you mean absolutely mind-blowing and totally destroying everything I thought I believed was true. I mean, another dimension should be impossible. The only thing that's supposed to exist outside of time and space is God. But yet, here's an entire world straight out of a book that was considered fiction! And then I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole fact that this is real and I can get seriously killed. I mean what happens if I die here. Do I just blink out of existence, disappear from history with no one ever knowing I existed? I – I just don't know.

We all just sat there, silent. Cor and Coring didn't know what to say, but I could tell King Lune was thinking hard.

"My dear boy, I cannot say I understand what you're feeling, and I dare not say because I cannot know. I confess I do not know that much about where you're from, or who this "God" is that you speak of. But answer me this, is God like Aslan?"

"Well, yeah. All-knowing and all sovereign. Outside of time and space, speaking creation being with his breath. And…"

King Lune put up his hand, stopping the rest of my thought. "It would appear then that God is similar to Aslan. Indulge another question and then I'll give you my thought. Were you paying attention to the story of how Edmund and Susan and their siblings came into Narnia?"

"Well, uh, yeah. For the most part, anyway."

"Then let me say this. If the God you serve is like Aslan, and he has the characteristics you describe, then it seems to me that he has been in control of everything. Now, that is not to say that he _caused_ everything. No, that is quite a different thing. What I mean is that he has worked everything for a good purpose _in spite of your troubles._ For I assume those characteristics also mean there are certain things he cannot do. I assume he is neither responsible for, nor causes evil. He would not be able to work everything for good otherwise. Thus, the conclusion would seem to be that the troubles you and your friends have gone through are proof of God and not proof against him. Give it time my friend, for some of your anxiety, may resolve itself once you return home."

"But I…Ok. I suppose your right, I probably won't be able to solve anything by working myself up."

…

We finished eating breakfast before King Lune took Corin on a tour of Anvard and the lands that made up its estate. I had the impression the tour would take a while, so I was left there thinking of something to do. Turns out I didn't need to worry because Peridian came up and asked if I would like to have a few sparring rounds. I couldn't think of another thing to do, so I just shrugged my shoulders and muttered "sure."

After navigating through the twists and turns, we came out into the training arena we had passed through just after the battle. I had been too dazed with the battle to get a good look, but this time I could slow down and take it all in. The training room wasn't actually on the main path. We had made it out into the main courtyard. There were four doors coming off of the courtyard. The one we had come through the lead to the main hallways and layout of the castle. Across the courtyard was the main gate with its portcullis and fortifications. The door to our left led to the stables and the tack and saddle rooms. We took the door to the right, opening the door to a smaller courtyard. Most of the long-range archery fields were outside the castle, but there were a few targets in here for close range archery as well as knife and ax throwing. There were a few training dummies next to the targets. A stout wooden wall had been erected the around the archery area so the trainees wouldn't have to worry about stray arrows. I assumed the training dummies were for practicing thrusts and slashes.

That's not where we were going though. Edmund went over to the storage room opened the door and brought out a practice shields.

I looked at him for a minute before protesting in indignation. "Oh come on man, aren't we gonna warm up with a sword each or something!"

Edmund chuckled as he proceeded to strap the shield on. "not quite my friend. Actually, Peridian suggested you start learning how to pair up with someone."

"Well wait a minute, who's the other…Oh, I've got you. Peridian and me versus you, right?"

Peridian's voice rang out from across the room. "Very good friend, I see your wit is quick today."

"Huh. So what exactly are you trying to teach me with this set-up? I know there's got to be something."

Peridian had closed the distance and come over to stand by us, hand resting on his sword's pommel. "To put it simply, flow in battle. You need to learn the art of being able to finish one opponent to the point where you know he's down and be able to immediately move on to the next. You were fortunate in the battle, partially because you had the protection of armor, but also because you were relatively overlooked and just plain lucky. When you're done dealing with Edmund, it will be my turn.

I scrunched my nose in confusion for a moment before some understanding started to seep through. "O…kay then. I'm pretty sure I get where you're going with this."

Edmund looked at me with a stern face. "Are you sure? If there are any questions now's the time to ask them."

"No, I really do get where you're going. I just need to have you guys walk me through it a couple times."

Edmund and Peridian nodded, satisfied that I wasn't feeling too in over my head. On one hand, it was still kind of surreal. On the other, I WAS LEARNING TO SWORD FIGHT! For real! I mean, this was something I had said I always wanted to do.

Practice swords and daggers were substituted for our regular ones, minimizing the chance of accidentally hurting ourselves. Edmund and I took our stances, Edmund's practice sword in his right and the shield strapped to his left. I settled in front of him, sword in a forward ready stance, both hands securely wrapped around the handle and the blade point forward at a thirty-degree angle.

Ed swung with his left up and over in an angled chop. I shifted to the left in response, moving my right hand to the middle of the blade and grip the fuller with my palm and fingers. My hand was safe from the blade and I was free to put all my effort into the block, I went to twist, throwing the pommel toward Edmund's head. Before I could complete it though, he turned and heaved his shield towards me. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, ducking as I stepped to the right. I rotated my right arm, drawing the sword and flipping it around to a normal grip. Just as I came out of the duck, I took advantage of the opening and swung at Edmund's "unprotected" neck, the capped sword point raking across where the vulnerable spot would be. Ed wasn't quite done yet. He brought his shield up, catching my sword and swinging at my thighs.

Out of the blue, I had a burst of brilliance, using a karate move out of my growing arsenal, I balanced myself on my left leg and threw my right foot in a low roundhouse and then to the side, landing right below Edmund's left kneecap. Ed toppled, going to land on his back.

And then to my utter surprise, all of a sudden, I felt myself in a choke hold and another practice dagger against my neck. Peridian had completely slipped my mind.

…

Both of them just started laughing as Peridian gave me a friendly slap on the back and Edmund made his way up from the ground.

Peridian put his hand on my shoulder as he complimented me. "Ha-ha! Well done my friend. Your resourcefulness was impressive, especially that little trick with knocking Edmund's sword out of the way and then his leg. What was that?" I turned and looked at him with curiosity on my face. "What, the kicking? It's just a type of Martial Art I picked up back home."

A new voice interrupted us from across the training room. "I would like to know more of this 'Martial Art.' Is it like wrestling?"

"Like-oh Corin. Yeah, it's a little like it, just a whole lot more dangerous."

Edmund finally spoke up. "Well, whatever it is, it's certainly effective. I believe my shin will be sore, even with the padding."

I grimaced, looking down as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Err. Sorry."

Edmund just waved his hand. "Ah, quite alright. The important thing was you did what needed to be done and got me out of the fight. Better a bruise here than a wound on the battlefield."

The three of us had meandered over to Corrin and the four of us headed back in for Lunch. It was a grand feast, the Archenland lords joined us along with the rest of our Narnian Party. King Lune and Cor had a fresh change of clothes after just finishing Cor's tour of the grounds. Edmund and Peridian related the story of our sparing session. That story earned a good number of laughs, as well as a few surprised and impresses glances that I had done that well against Edmund. I was still pretty surprised myself, to be honest. But, it is what it is.

Anyways, after lunch, we ran into Chervy the Stagg. In all the confusion earlier, I had failed to notice he had slipped away and taken the news of victory back to Cair Paravel. Apparently, he had just shown up and brought a message expressing Narnia's joy at the victory and news of High King Peter's triumph over the giants in the Northern Wastelands. They were eager to see us again would have a proper reception ready upon our return to Cair Paravel.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect, as king Lune's staff was in the middle of preparing the _Splendor Hyaline_ for the return trip back to Cair Paravel. While the preparations were underway, Aravis Cor, Corrin, and I decided to head down to the stables and catch up with Bree and Hwin.

…

They were both in a pasture out by the stables, munching oats. Aravis and I were in the front, with Cor and Corin behind us. Both Bree and Hwin's ears perked up, but Bree was first to the punch, lifting his head.

"Well, well. The war heroes have come back. And the two in front make a cute couple if I say so." Bree grinned in the weird, lopsided, horse-ish way as Aravis blushed and I stuttered through my dropped jaw.

"Uh. Do I even want to touch that one?"

Aravis closed her mouth to retort at Bree when Cor snickered.

I half-turned to Cor and glared at him. "Don't – say – a – thing." Cor just put his hands up and grinned. "I didn't say anything." "Ha-ha. Sure, you did."

"Annnyyyways." Arvis's voice turned us back to the conversation. "King Lune is restocking the _Splendor Hyaline_ for its return trip to Cair Paravel and King Edmund offered room for all of us on board if we want to accept their offer."

Hwin's soft voice answered. "Well, his Majesty certainly has our gratefulness. I for one would certainly not mind the respite from walking. However, I would prefer to take hear Bree's opinion.

"Ah, hmm. Yes, well, I just think there are other means of transportation more…respectable…for horses.

We all stared at him for a moment until I had an epiphany and burst out laughing. The bellyaches were so bad I almost doubled over.

"Hahahaha! Oh – my – gosh! Bree, Bree, Bree, you hilarious horse. I got it. You're afraid of water, aren't you?"

Everyone's head whipped back around to Bree he tried to hedge his answer. "Of course not. Not afraid, no. Just cautious, mind you. And besides, I don't want to ruin a nice ship with horses.

Cor and I rolled our eyes, Corin just shook his head, and Aravis grinned.

Hwin chuckled. "Well dear friends, now that that's settled, will it be just Bree and I journeying north or will any of you be coming with us?

Now it was Arvis's turn to stutter. "If it is alright with you, I would prefer to have my first ship-ride. I do hope you understand.

Hwin stepped up and gave Aravis a nudge. "Of course, the chance to have a new experience is always exciting. Go on. It will give me something to look forward to. And what about the rest of you

No one else spoke right away so I broke the silence. "Well, I'd actually kind of like to ride North with the horses, enjoy riding through the pass without having to worry about the Calormenes or keeping up with the Narnian Army."

Corin interrupted. "I sense a 'but' coming on as you like to call it"

I snorted at Corrin's accurate assessment. "But no, Edmund and the others have been so kind to me so far, it would just feel really, really, really rude to not ride back with them on the ship. What about you Cor?"

Cor shrugged a habit that I noticed had been picked by both Cor and Corin, among others. "I would prefer to make the journey now, but I don't think now would be the best time, what with all the turbulence of me showing up and whatnot. I think it would ease father if I waited a few days."

Bree cleared his throat. "Well now lad, if it's simply a matter of you waiting a couple of days, then I do believe Hwin and I should go up with you."

Hwin gave him a sidelong glance. "Oh very well, we shall wait a few days then.

…

"Ah-hem." We all whipped our heads around to see Destrier come striding up to the fence. "Forgive my intrusion, Prince Cor, and Lady Aravis, but King Edmund sends word that the _Splendor Hyaline_ has been prepared and is ready for boarding."

Aravis curtsied. "Thank-you, valiant Centaur. You may tell their Majesties we shall be there shortly. Also, if they ask, let them know that Bree and Hwin will be accompanying Prince Cor to Narnia and I shall be going on the _Splendor Hyaline_."

Destrier nodded. "Very well my Lady. I will pass your message immediately." Destrier turned and broke in a light trot toward Anvard.

It was a bittersweet event, leaving Anvard. Most of Aravis's and my things had already been packed, leaving just a few personal effects. Aravis came out wearing a simple green dress, her hair braided back and her weapons consisting simply of her Calormene dagger. I was back in my own garb. Boots, jeans, and Norfolk Southern shirt, with my sword and a temporary dagger, belted securely around my waist. The formal goodbyes had actually been taken care of at breakfast that morning leaving just Cor, Corin, King Lune, and a few Archenland Lords to see us off.

We all stood there waving as the boat pushed off and we watched Anvard disappear as we sailed up the coast. The Narnians were the first to leave, going below decks to lounge around. Aravis left a few minutes after them, muttering something about making her cabin more 'homely.' Girls. Can't be explained or understood.

I didn't leave just yet though. Without anyone chasing us or being thrown into the middle of a battle I had some time to reminisce to myself. Without all the chaos I could think again. There were dozens of thoughts running through my head, everything from knowing my parents would be worried stiff, to once again the sheer impossibility of what was happening in front of my face.

The fact that I was actually in an alternate reality was undeniable right now. I could see it, taste it, smell it. Heck, it had left its mark on me, I literally had the battle scars to prove it. And at the same time, my world was crumbling. The Bible never mentioned anything about alternate dimensions. Sure, Genesis says God made the Heavens and Earth. But that was just it. It said earth. Singular, not plural.

And where did Aslan fit into all this? Obviously, I believed that he was real and I heard what the Hermit called a message from God. But if the existence of alternate dimensions wasn't mentioned in the text, then how could I believe anything they said. And to top it all off, how did Aslan fit with the divinity of Christ.

These thoughts all spun through my head for the next three hours, staring up at the Narnian stars.

Where were you, God?

…

 **Well there you go folks, another chapter. But seriously though, thank you for reading and sticking with me. I am SOOOOOOO sorry for the late update. Everything been hectic lately and we're having to prepare for a major event sometime this year on top of it. Anyways, this point is past the end of Lewis's book, so everything beyond this is completely original.**

 **Also, I want to thank all of you who have commented with tips to improve my writing. I swear I've taken all to them seriously and will implement them. This story's nearly finished, so you'll see them implemented starting in the next book, including one suggestion on using the hero's arc. So stay tuned you'll see your suggestions implemented here pretty soon, I'm estimating only two or three chapters. So yes, we are getting close, for real.**

 **On a final note, watched Bumbelbee acouple weeks ago and it was A-A-A-A-M-M-M-M-A-A-A-Z-Z-Z-Z-I-I-I-I-N-N-N-G-G-G! Take everything that was wrong with the Michal Bay movies and flip it. That's Bumbelbee. And of course HOW-TO-TRAIN-YOUR-DRAGON-3 IS COMING! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

 **Yeah, I'm excited.**

 **Alright everyone, thanks for reading, God bless and take care!**


	18. Return to Cair Paravel

_**Previously on**_ **The Dragon Rider Chronicles** _ **, Jacob and the gang had finally reached the long awaited goal: the final leg into Narnia and the end of the journey. But plans have a way of being altered sometimes. Jacob and Aravis have decided to Embarq with Edmund and Susan aboard the**_ _ **Splendor Hyaline**_ _ **, while Bree and Hwin decided to take the overland route. Struggling with his faith, Jacob decided to get some sleep and just enjoy the journey. Let's see what awaits him on the final leg of his journey.**_

…

Chapter 17

I finally went to bed about midnight, my brain tired of trying to worm my way through the thoughts swirling inside my head. I didn't sleep very well that night either. Fits of tossing and turning kept me from drifting off for another hour and woke me up with the sunrise that morning.

My brain was telling me don't get up. I just laid there and let out a groan, squinting my bloodshot eyes as they started to adjust. "Mmm. Not now, it's too bloody early." I tried laying there and going back to sleep, but no luck. The combination of sunlight and still being unused to the rocking of the ship. With a sigh, I finally heaved myself out of the hammock, sliding my jeans and t-shirt on and going through the motions of buckling my sword belt on.

I stretched and yawned as I tromped up onto the deck, nodding to Captain Wimble behind the wheel. "Morning man."

"Aye, and good morning to 'ya too, master Jacob. 'Be coming into port shortly we should. I wager another two or three hours at most."

I yawned, grinning in relief we were so close. "Oh, thank heavens, I'll be on steady land again."

Wimble just grinned. "I bet you will, still don't have the sea legs, eh?"

I arched my eyebrows and grinned. "Starting too. Just not very fast.

Wimble threw his head back and laughed at that. Before he could say anything though, I heard Arvis's voice across the deck. "And what, good Captain, is so funny?"

"Nothing Lady Aravis, just some teasing about master Jacob's sea legs. Or lack thereof in this case."

"I see. Carry on then good Sir." Aravis winked at me and I just rolled my eyes in response.

I went to resume soaking up the sun when I noticed Peridian walk up on deck. Giving a squinted nod of acknowledgment, my eyeballs jerked open when I saw him draw his sword and swing at me.

"What the!" _Swish!_ Peridian grinned and said "impromptu training session" as I ducked under the blade and dived to the side, going into a roll and then scrambling up into a ready stance. Peridian swung back around, sword going for my legs as I jumped over the blade and matched the return stroke with a solid upper block.

I scrambled my brain with what to do, Peridian pausing for a second so I could collect my thoughts. And then, I had an epiphany and muttered "leg" before going back at it.

My foot struck out, lightly kicking him in the shin. Peridian stumbled for a minute out of reflex, and I took the opportunity to push his blade up as I stepped under it and transitioned into a right-shoulder side block. I had put myself in a perfect position for a neck strike. My arms uncurled, shoulders moving backward with my elbow and landing the flat of the blade just above Peridian's neck.

…

We all just stood there silent for a minute, myself processing at what I managed to pull off. My laughter burst out, interrupting my vocalized thoughts. "I…ha-ha…I did it! That worked. Darn. Darn, darn, darn! Maybe I'll get the hang of this yet!"

Peridian chuckled as Aravis grinned and Wimble grunted as he shook his head.

Peridian nodded as we re-sheathed our blades. "You'll get it. If this showed anything, you're developing the ability to flow with the battle, adjust your maneuvers as needed. Patterns and sets are good; they have their place and work well. It's when people get locked into patterns that they become unable to make it out of changing situations."

I looked at him and nodded, a grin plastered over my face.

 _Harrumph!_ We heard Aravis clear her throat before she turned her head and pointed. I followed her gaze and saw what looked like land with some buildings on it.

"Good sirs, if I must guess, it looks like we are approaching land."

Wimble nodded. "Good eye, Lady Aravis. The Narnian coast juts out slightly here and allows us to follow the coast the remainder of the journey."

So that's what we did. Edmund and Susan came out at that point, so we just took to lazing around. We would move between leaning on the railing or sitting on the deck, listening to the sound of the waves and soaking up the sun and breeze. The wave gently lapped against the hull, adding to the peaceful ambiance. I actually started drifting off, time blurring as I just laid there and relaxed.

Daydreams filled my head. About home, the adventure so far, what was coming, and a million other things.

It was a nudge on the leg that woke me out of my daze. I cracked open my eye to see Aravis grinning down at me. "You should get up. We're coming into port."

"Oh, Sam Hill. Go jump in a lake." I groaned as I swung to a sitting position and rubbed my eyes before standing and stretching. "Oooohhhh-oh!"

As my eyes focused, I noticed that there was a large party lined up to meet us at the dock. I could see Lucy and a tall blond man standing next to her. That must be Peter. High King Peter I mentally corrected myself. There was a small cluster of soldiers surrounding Peter and Lucy. A long line of Narnians spread out behind them, lining the road up toward Cair Paravel.

"Wow. I guess they weren't kidding about a proper reception."

"Up sails! Prepare to dock! Some of the Narnian soldiers had ridden back with us to serve as dockhands scrambled around, hoisting the sails as the _Splendour Hyaline_ gradually slowed. The tow ropes were thrown down and a couple Sayters tied off the ropes before maneuvering the gangplank toward the ship. The deckhands on board along with Wimble, Edmund, and myself grabbed and pulled it the last couple inches onto the ship, securing it in its own set of notches.

The crowd cheered we all lined up. Susan, Edmund, and Peridian all waved and nodded as they acknowledged the cheers of the Narnians. With the Gangplank secured, Susan took the lead. Edmund was second in line, followed by Peridian and myself. Beardstead and Grimsby stayed behind with the others to help secure the _Splendour Hyaline_ and empty anything left on the ship. When we made it to the bottom of the ramp, I saw Susan curtsy before Lucy squeezed her in a hug. Edmund was right behind her, Embracing Lucy and Peter.

When Peridian and I reached the bottom of the gangplank, I heard Lucy exclaim "Jacob", and envelope me in a squeeze. "I am glad you made it here all right. But I thought there were others.

My grin widened as I rolled my eyes. "They'll be along in a few days, there are some things that need to be straightened out back at Anvard first."

"Well, I must say I am disappointed they aren't here now, this will give me something to eagerly look forward to."

Peter turned to me and grinned. "You have my thanks, young man. For the way I understand it, you were one of four that helped warn King Lune in time."

I flushed, rubbing the back of my neck before clearing my throat. "Well, I wouldn't go quite that far Your Majesty. I just did what anyone else would have done."

"Yes, well. Be that as it may, you still played an important part. And it's Peter, by the way."

Before I had a chance to respond, Peter turned and addressed the faun next to him. "The horses if you please, Gimble."

The dwarf nodded. "Aye, Your Majesty. Horses!" A faun and a satyr came forward, each of them leading two horses.

My thoughts flashed back to what Cor had said about riding talking horses and I was suddenly very nervous. "Uh, pardon my interruption, but I thought we weren't supposed to ride talking horses normally.

Gimble chuckled. "No worries friend, these are bred from some of the finest Archenland stock."

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders in response. "Well then, that's all she wrote folks."

With a solid pull, I hooked my foot in the saddle and swung up, joining Edmund, Peridian, and Susan who had already mounted. Peter and Lucy were right behind us, Peter giving Gimble a nod as the faun took the lead. Peter and Lucy were next in line, followed by Susan, Edmund, Peridian, and finally me.

…

It was kind of surreal honestly. I didn't feel like receiving such a public welcome at all. Maybe Cor if anyone, but that was because he had run al the way to warn King Lune in time. If anything, I felt like a coward and a traitor. Corin and I had essentially snuck in after all.

But, there was nothing I could do about that now. I guess I just had to go with the flow.

We weaved our way up the road, cheers, and waves greeting us as we nodded or waved back. First came the outer gate, then the sprawling garden and finally the main gate, portcullis, and courtyard.

Gimble called a halt, swinging down from his pony and starting to take our reigns. For some reason, Peridian shook his head, indicating his reluctance to let gimble take his horse.

"With your majesty's leave, I'll take 'yer horses in for 'ye."

Peter chuckled. "Of course, friend, thank-you."

"It's a pleasure your majesty" The dwarf started off toward the stables, muttering to the horses as he went.

Peter turned to the rest of us, motioning toward the main door into the castle. "I suppose we ought to go in then."

The rest of us just nodded. Except for Peridian.

"With permission, your majesty, I will be joining you shortly. There are some personal matters I need to take care of in town."

Peter just nodded, causing Peridian to briefly bow before re-mounting and exiting the castle at a low canter.

Taking advantage of the opening, Lucy spoke up for the first time since we de-boarded the _Dawn Treader_. "Let's go in all. I, for one, am famished, and I have no doubt the rest of us are as well."

I hadn't thought of it yet, but I was hungry. Starving would be a better term, actually.

Edmund started toward the castle, nodding in acknowledgment. "That would be agreeable with me."

It took a decent amount of time to get inside and to the table. Edmund and Susan wanted to freshen up, and I needed to change shirts. I ended up with two of them, a white cotton undershirt and a fire-engine red outer shirt. Surprisingly enough, these weren't nearly as itchy as the ones in Anvard. That was a very pleasant surprise. All in all, it took us nearly an hour to make it into the dining room.

Lucy caught up with me as I turned into the hallway leading to the dining room. "Well, don't you look fresh!"

I laughed and just shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, sure. I guess. Hey, I was wanting to ask you, is there any particular way you do the seating process or anything?"

"Oh, not particularly. Peter sits at the head of the table, obviously, since he's the High King. Edmund and I usually sit next to him, and Susan will sit at the other end of the table. We do all sit at the same time though, so you should find your seat immediately. The head waiter will ring the dinner bell to call us to attention. Henceforth, it's simply a matter of sitting and conversing."

"Well gee, that doesn't sound too bad at all."

Lucy just laughed. "How formal did you think we were?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're royalty, after all, I reckon I expected more formality or something. At least in a big dinner like this anyways."

"Sometimes. Although I think most of the time you will find us rather free-flowing."

I just grinned and shook my head in amusement. "I've figured that out for the most part by now."

"In any event, here we are. And relax, we're all friends here."

"I'll try, Your Majesty."

Lucy froze midstep, turning around and giving me an arched eyebrow. "Lucy. And don't call me anything else.

I stood there for a second, amusement going through my mind as I processed her comment. I finally harrumphed, shaking myself out of my thoughts as I walked through the opening into the dining room.

…

 _ **Well there we go everybody, another chapter! Thank-you to everyone who has been sticking with this story. I appreciate it more than you know and thoroughly enjoy sharing all this stuff taking up space in my brain. I've got some interesting stuff planned for the next couple chapters and then I can seriously get into the second book. And yes, I'm**_ **VERY** _ **excited about it, think part of the lost Roanoke colony ending up in a world with talking dragons. Pilgrims and dragons, oh my!**_

 _ **Anyways, thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time!**_

 _ **For the Love of Dragons out!**_


	19. The birth of a knight

Chapter 18

 _ **Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles, after going into battle to help defeat Rabadash, our group had their joyus reunion before finally heading north to their goal all along. Narnia. Jacob and Aravis joined the return voyage on the Spledour Hyaline, while Bree and Hwin decided to come up later. But what secret are they hiding, and what's waiting for Jacob in Narnia? Let's find out!**_

…

The dining hall was, in a word, jaw-dropping. Ok, that's two words. Regardless, the room was simply stunning. Most of Cair Paravel was beautiful anyway, but the throne and the dining room were two rooms that had an extra opulence about them.

The entrance was through two thirty-five-foot doors of oak polished in a deep, rich brown. Both of the doors were covered in engravings, depicting the creatures and places of Narnia. Carvings of animals ringed the perimeter, fauns, satyrs, centaurs, and dozens of others. An intertwined rowed of vines blooming with flowers wrapped around the outer perimeter of the doors and served as a frame for the carvings in the center. The door was divided into four large sections by the raised beam and column carvings. The upper panels were a depiction of the battle against the witch's forces with the witch and Peter dueling on the right panel and the left depicting Aslan's triumphant entry.

On the inside, lavishness abounded. The room itself was your typical large rectangular dining hall. Arches and collums flowed along both sides, forming long alcoves. Various tables were scattered along the alcoves, as were a few Sayter guards. If I glanced real quick, I could see doorways tucked off in the corners, no doubt meant for the staff bringing food and whatnot in. The same vines and flowers from the doors continued around the pillars. The walls were plastered and eggshell white. The roof was shaped much like a barn roof, with the initial sections heading at a 45-degree angle before tapering off to about a 30-degree angle. The 30-degree sections were an intermittent pattern of roof and skylight sections. And finally, at the end of the hall, a gigantic stained-glass window of Aslan overlooked the cliff with sandy beach and ocean below.

When I actually walked through the door, most of the eyes turned on me for a moment. Peter was already standing by the head chair and turned his head up when I walked in, acknowledging me with a nod and motioning me to come forward.

"Ah, good of you to join us, Jacob. If you'll come forward, we have a bit of business to attend before we sit down to our meal."

He nodded off to my left, and I swiveled my head to see both Edmund and Peridian just barely nod before exiting one of the doors off to the side. I whipped my head back around to face Peter.

"Uh, pardon a question Your Majesty, but what's going on?"

"Patience, that question will be answered momentarily, but first, a few questions.

There was a large stamping sound behind me, and I glanced to see the Centaurs pound their spear-shafts on the ground, the few conversations ceasing as everyone turned to look at Peter.

"Jacob, in the presence of these witnesses, do you swear to answer these questions truthfully?"

"Ahh…well yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Peter nodded his head. "Did you or did you not aid my siblings, the Lord Peridian and others in escaping Tashbaan and evading Prince Rabadash."

I swallowed. What had I gotten myself into? "Yes, your majesty, I did."

"Did you or did you not, after escaping immediately ride out with my brother and sister to attempt warning Anvard and King Lune in time?

"Yes."

Did you or did you not sneak into battle and valiantly fight alongside us in our engagement with Rabadash."

"Yes."

Was the original agreement by my siblings to help you make it to Narnia so you could find your way back to your home country?"

"Yes."

"Thus, in light of the above, did you wade into battle and journey to Anvard when you had every right to stay here and go home?"

"I…yes." I let out a sigh and lowered my head just a smidge

"Jacob, present your sword and kneel."

…

I just felt like I had had my gut-punched. After everything I had been through, was this my fate, to be scolded and stripped of what little position I had achieved? But there wasn't anything I could do. With sadness, I unbelted my sword and held both my hands out as I bowed to present it to Peter. He took it and leaned it against the back of his chair.

I didn't see Peridian come up on my left, but I heard the jangling of another sword and scabbard. Peridian muttered, "your Majesty" and then stepped back a few paces.

"Jacob, look up."

I glanced up and saw Peter standing there holding a different sword, this one looking much fancier and polished to a shine, bearing the head of a dragon and a polished red scabbard with Gold scrollwork on the top and silver on the bottom.

"Jacob, for gallantry and honor above and beyond in spite of crushing fear, I present you with this token of gratitude. Take it."

Peter set it in my hands. The familiar feel of the metal's weight settling into my palms.

"Rise to one knee and bow your head."

I did as Peter said, my heart pounding out of my chest. An eternity seemed to pass at that moment and then my world stopped as I felt the flat of Rhindon tapping me on my right and then left shoulder.

"Jacob on behalf of a grateful Narnia and the authority invested in me by Aslan and Narnian law, I pronounce you as squire to my brother King Edmund. And, upon completion of your training, Sir Jacob, knight of Narnia. Arise, squire and future night and buckle your sword on with pride."

My heartbeat stopped for a minute as the event seemed to crawl through my head at a snail's pace. It all felt so surreal and completely unexpected. I mean, I didn't deserve this. Sure, I guess I did want a "well done" or two. But this, I never would have expected it in my wildest dreams!

Somehow, I made it through the rest of the meal. I'm sure I conversed with people, as I remember talking to Peridian, Grimsby, and others. That's what I remember anyway. If I'm being honest, most of it was a fog. By the time the mental fog had finished, we started to head our ways but Peter pulled me aside in the dining hall.

"Squire Jacob, A moment if you please."

"Uh, yeah, sure. What's up?

"In light of the recent events, King Lune and I have agreed to hold a joint tournament here at Cair Paravel. King Lune has also brought it to my observation that prince Cor is squired to his father, and with this being the case, we thought it prudent to ask each of you how you feel about a squire sparring. The event would probably be two or three rounds and toward the end of the tournament, so you and Prince Cor don't feel too much pressure. What says though?"

I don't whether I still wasn't quite myself, if it was the air, or if I was just crazy. But, with a breath out, I nodded my head and said yes.

Peter must have sensed something because he chuckled and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry friend, my brother is the best Narnia has and Peridian a close second, you'll be fine.

"Now, since both tradition and rules dictate the tournament a fortnight before shall be sent forth tomorrow morning – the day being Tuesday and all – and thus, the tournament and joust shall commence two Tuesdays from now. Now I suggest you find my brother and start practicing. I have no doubt you'll impress us all."

I smiled with a cocky grin. "Thanks, man."

"Your welcome. Now go on as you were, your dismissed for now."

The next two weeks passed quickly. Cor, Aravis, King Lune, and the horses made a three–day visit over the weekend and between Edmund, Peter, and Peridian, I was becoming a rather competent squire. I was still a greenhorn to be sure, but my endurance was coming up on the ten-minute mark. Whatever marginal fat I had accumulated was completely gone and replaced with lean, sinewy muscle. We had started throwing a tiny bit of wrestling into the mix and eventually Edmund assured me I would start learning archery and the Quarterstaff. Turns out the Quarterstaff was the base for learning how to use polearms like halberds and pikes down the road. That, fortunately, was a ways off yet.

Horsemanship was something else that seemed to come naturally. I was certainly already familiar with riding bareback and saddle, but now I took it to the next level. The frequent "sightseeing" trips were obviously an excuse to break in my horse skills. I had always wanted to live on a ranch, so I wasn't complaining. It wasn't just horsemanship or stamina either, there was a strategy, understanding coats of arms, wrestling, and the one thing I thoroughly disliked. Court manners.

It wasn't that I was rude or anything, I just got SO tired of all the thou's and these, that sort of thing. Man, I tell you can't these people just put it straight and simple! Of course, to go along with all this fun, there was a mountain load of sword work, weapon sharpening and a seemingly infinite amount of polishing.

The sword that Edmund had given me back in Tashbaan was still mine to keep along with the one Peter had given me. The two blades along with breeches, a couple of shirts, a gambeson, and two mail shirts took up space with the jeans, t-shirt, boots and belt from home.

…

I had moments over the two weeks to take everything in, but they were brief and shallow between awestruck moments when I thought about what I was living out. The one thing that stuck out in those two weeks was the contrast between the kindness of King Lune and the others versus Rabadash. To be perfectly frank, it was good versus evil. I know there are people that say everything is gray and there is no right and wrong. But then how do you explain the righteous indignation or the shock to the conscious from the Calormene way of life.

It's like the Bible says, "when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people.

But this whole adventure had brought other things into perspective. Without equal representation for the people, the peasants were sheep at the mercy of wolves. All they had to rely on was luck. I suppose majority rule would have brought better results in a place like Tashbaan, but if the people running weren't any better, the people would likely be worse off in better. So, in the end, I guess it's like America's founders intended. Without a self-governing and self-restrained concise informed by a moral compass, the people are sunk.

That's enough hypothesizing for now, back to the story.

The two weeks had drawn to a close and we had received a large number of replies. Invitations had obviously been sent to Anvard and the Lords Dar and Darrin, Cole and Colin, and Tran and Shar would be accompanying King lune and competing in both the joust and tournament. All three parts were not only brothers but Lords and Knights as well. Invitations had also been sent to both the Lone Islands in the East and Telmar in the West. Both places had sent word back of acceptance, the Lone Islands sending Sir Dallir, and Telmar sending Sir Nestagan.

And to rounds out the list, both Peter and Edmund would be participating, though more for the fun of it than competition wise. The reason had something to do with it not being fair for two Kinds to compete against the Knights and Lords. I can't remember the rest of the reason.

Peridian along with Beardstead and Grimsby had taken the invitation to the Lone Islands while Destrier took Tumnus and a couple Satyrs to convey the invitation to Archenland. They returned a couple days apart, Peridian's group showing up first, followed by Destrier.

Everybody pitched in during the remaining week and a half to help prepare the tournament, and since I was Edmund's squire, I followed him everywhere. It was fascinating and pleasantly surprising to see how much of a servant king all four of the Pevensie siblings and just everyone in general was. Edmund did seem to take it to the extreme, but considering his history with the White Witch, I couldn't blame him.

As far as the actual order, the whole event would take three days. The first would consist of the opening ceremonies, a formal march of all the Knights and their squires displaying their colors and coat of Arms. The Parade would be followed by the peter taking the role of Herald and announcing the participants; their titles and a few notable accomplishments. The second day would be focused mainly on the competition, opening with a series of displays between Edmund, King Lune, Peridian, and Sir Nestagan. The melee combat would follow as a warm-up and the final big event would be the joust, with Edmund and Destrier calling out points while I marked the numbers on the tracking board. Finally, the last day of the tournament would open up with Cor and I's duel, followed by closing speeches from Peter, King Lune, and the visiting knights speaking on behalf of the Lone Islands and Telmar.

…

I _**really**_ didn't want to think about the closing day, especially Cor and I's duel. Don't forget, I've always had a varying degree of both stage fright and heights paranoia. Yeah, me. Granted, I've mostly gotten over it because I've _**HAD TO,**_ but this was before that.

Edmund must have noticed it, because it finally came through on the Saturday before the tournament. We were out in the courtyard and I was off my game. If I had cared to admit it to myself, I would acknowledge it was sitting there knowing at the back of my head.

The cracking point was when Peter had backed me into a corner, and I had to duck under the swipe of his practice blade. I went roll forward and get out, but before I could stop myself, I walked right into an opening for Peter and he swept my feet out from under me.

I landed hard, grunting as I landed and some of the air went out of my lungs. "Oomph! Ow, I think I pulled my everything."

"Well, if humor could kill, I would be finished by now. What's going on Jacob? You've been distracted all day?"

"I just, ahhh! I just can't keep my mind off Cor and I's a duel. I want to think I'm ready, but I just don't know. What if I freeze. How do I know the crowd's energy will make me think I'm back in the battle with Rabadash. I still have dreams, Peter. I've gotten some decent sleep, but I know they're still there 'cause I wake up scared and my heart pounding."

We were silent for a moment until Peter finally spoke.

"Hmm. You're wondering how to move on. I recall the first battle Ed, Su, and I was in. I was terrified when the Witch and her army came over the rise. I turned to Borius and asked, 'are you with me?' I really didn't want him to say yes and I wanted it to be over. I too had nightmares for weeks after that battle. I dreamed over and over that the witch had managed to kill me or Edmund. I finally asked Aslan to help me let it go as I had been unable to do myself because I thought I could fix the past. Of course, the realization I couldn't hit me with a mighty wind. One I realized that and relied on Aslan, I was able to move on."

I didn't mean to, but I just barged in and interrupted him. "Fix! Fix it, Peter! I want to forget it! I…"

He held up his hand to stop me, and I had too much respect for him to continue.

"Don't you? You want to fix your panicked heart. You want to fix your hesitation and your tendency to freeze."

He stood there with a smile on his face, waiting on me to continue.

"I…Yeah, I guess I do want to fix it."

"There's the rub my dear friend. You can't. You have to take it one fight at a time in the beginning. It will get easier as time goes on, and eventually, you'll be able to handle two and then three, and so forth. Don't think about it. Relax, breathe and focus on the movements, blow by blow and block by block. When you wake up one day and find you can do that, well by Jove, you're on the way to being a rather good knight."

I exhaled long and slow, letting out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"Now, let's go inside. I do believe we've had enough for today."

And that's where we left it, the two of us walking inside with Peter's arm over my shoulder.

…

 **Well, there we go folks, I'm still alive, LOL. Seriously though, most of my time lately has been devoted to school and the rest has been prepping the model trains for a move/making an inventory list or getting the house ready to sell. I have managed to keep pecking away at the novel though. All that's left is to finish worming my way through the last major scene before some character wrap-up and the epilogue.**

 **Also, finally saw Avengers: Endgame. Mind-blowingly epic overload. We got every little scene from ten years of movies paid of. Indescribably well done, Russo brothers, indescribably well done. And if that wasn't enough, we've got Sar From Home coming in less than two weeks. Yeah, I'm excited.**

 **Anyways, a huge thank-you to all my followers for sticking with me, I really appreciate it despite the ridiculously slow pace, of uploading.**

 **Thanks again, Love Of Dragons Out**


	20. A Gathering Of Friends

Chapter 19

 **Previously on The Dragon Rider Chronicles we saw how the unexpected surprise turned out to be a rather signifigant promotion instead of a downturn like Jacob had been worried about. And if being promoted to squire wasn't enough, he and Cor would be competing in their own public sparring round during the upcoming tournament! Though unbeknownst to Jacob, the journey in Narnia is finally starting to wrap up. In the meantime though, let's see what happens with the tournament.**

…

The next day, I changed back into a loose shirt, breeches, gambeson, and leather boots. I strapped on my sword and headed out to breakfast. The meal was fantastic. Eggs, bacon, and actual orange. Not only was the food great, I was thoroughly relaxed from last night. I felt more…happy and alive. I guess I had managed to internalize what Peter had said yesterday. I could finally slow down and _enjoy_ everything around me. The birds seemed sweeter, the laughter echoed, and I seemed to notice all the details around me.

As far as the tournament, the contestants would start arriving about eleven in the afternoon, just a few hours away. King Lune, Cor, and the others from Anvard would obviously arrive first followed later by Sir Dallir from the Lone Islands and then Sir Nestagan from Telmar. The whole arrangement was perfectly fine by me, mainly because it would give us time to catch up with our friends from Anvard before we had to go into formal mode. After that point, we would probably be running around too much anyways.

Aravis and Lucy both managed to catch me just as we were finishing up breakfast, Lucy's voice echoing in the hall.

"Jacob! Wait a moment if you would."

I turned around midstride as the two walked up to me, a grin cracking across my face at the sight of my friends.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

Aravis returned the grin, commenting as she curtsied. "We just wanted to give you our congratulations on the promotion. You are certainly deserving of the honor."

I harrumphed. "Ah, thanks. I still don't think I deserve it, but it can't exactly be undone now. And will you guys just call me Jacob. I'm getting tired of this 'squire' business."

"Sorry," came Lucy's elongated reply.

"Don't worry about it. And thanks, both of you. I appreciate the confidence. I need it."

They looked at each other for a minute and then turned back to me with grins etched across their faces. "We were about ready to take a stroll in the apple trees. Would you care to join us?"

I was just about to say yes when I remembered morning training and stopped myself.

"Well, rats. Can't, morning training."

Before either of them could respond, I heard Edmund clearing his throat behind and I half-turned so I could see him. "I think we can forgo training this morning. Actually, I believe we shall cancel training this morning. You've been working awfully hard and deserve a decent break as far as I'm concerned. Especially considering all the rushing around that comes with a tournament."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wait. Seriously?!"

"Yes, 'seriously', as you put it. As a matter of fact, I think I'll join you. I haven't been able to have much time with either my sister or Aravis recently."

"Well then brother, what are we waiting for?"

We all chuckled as Edmund led the way through the corridors, Lucy next to him with Aravis and I coming up on the rear.

…

There wasn't really anyone around, aside from a few guards that saluted as we walked by. Head nods were exchanged and the only time we stopped was to let Mr. Tumnus know we were headed out to the garden. I could tell the faun wanted to come, hearing the regret in his voice as he said he had some final details to discuss with Peter and Peridian.

We made it out of the castle and headed right as we started around the perimeter of the Apple Orchard. I was the first to break the silence, asking Lucy what she remembered of England.

"I don't remember if that's what the place was called. The only name that won't let go is 'spare oom', whatever that may mean."

"What exactly do you remember then?"

Lucy turned her head toward Aravis. "I remember coming here, for I know there was snow where we came from, but it was summer when we left that place. The awe at seeing the snow covering everything was palpable. Beautiful is really the only word to describe it. Mr. Tumnus took me quite by surprise, honestly, as I was so wrapped up in the snow, I didn't even notice him until he snapped some twigs."

I grunted. "Huh, I bet that gave you a heck of a scare."

Lucy grinned. "Only for a moment. The feeling was quickly replaced by curiosity, I can remember that for sure. Oh, how fond those memories are. The trip to Mr. Tumnus's cavern cottage, the tea, it was wonderful."

Lucy was silent for a moment as Aravis spoke up.

"It was then that Mr. Tumnus told of him being a forced spy for the Witch, was it not?"

"Yes, it was. I had drowsed off and I awoke to the sound of a lion's roar and Mr. Tumnus shaking in the corner. It was certainly a hasty march back through the woods and then the wardrobe.

Edmund's face had been slowly dropping the whole time. No doubt he was reliving the memories of what the Jadis had done to him. He finally spoke, slow and even.

"Temptation is not easy to resist, friends. It speaks to you, subtle, and at the time, making complete sense. It subdues your concise and makes you ignore that still small voice screaming at you not to indulge. And in the end, you don't know you have been caught until it is too late."

None of us said anything for a few moments, the truth and depth of his words rattling around in our heads."

I finally broke the silence. "Good night, isn't that the truth."

We had meandered around nearly a quarter of the wall when we heard Destrier

"Peace, good Chervy, what is the problem."

"Oh, no problem per say, no problem at all. I have come to let their majesties know that King Lune and his companions will be here shortly. In fact, they send their apologies for the unexpected early arrival, but they were able to get away early and have had unusually good weather on the pass."

We had all been listening with heightened interest at Chervy's comment when Edmund motioned back toward the main gate. Nobody needed to say anything, his meaning was obvious. Lucy started forward first, Aravis coming up second with Edmund and I in the rear.

Destrier must have seen us come onto the main path just as Chervy finished. He inclined his head just a smidge. "Your Majesty's. I have news from this good stag."

I grinned as I explained. "Your fine man, we overheard on accident. We've been out here, but I don't know where Susan is. Peter's in some sort of meeting with Peridian, or at least he was when we came out here."

"Excuse me everyone, but I am currently out here."

Destrier stepped to the side and bowed as best a centaur could. "Your Majesty! Pardon me for not noticing you there."

Susan waived him off with her hand. "Please. I didn't want to interrupt. And as for my brother, I should think they have nearly finished."

Chervy nodded as his nervous pacing slowed a bit. "Thank-you Your Majesty. I believe my errand is accomplished."

Aravis piped up next to me and then I echoed her sentiment.

"Oh, do stay! I haven't had a proper opportunity to be introduced to you."

"Yeah man, I only got to see you like, twice, and that was on the way to or from a battle. Haven't had a chance to just hang with you."

"Thank-you kind friends, but I really must leave. There are some last-minute things I need to take care of."

"Well my good stag, I do hope you'll accept an invite to 'hang', as Jacob calls it, after the tournament."

"That would be most enjoyable Your Majesty."

We all turned and looked again as Peter walked through the gate.

"Good. We shall plan on it then."

Chervy nodded before turning and bounding away down the path and then out through the gates.

Peter looked around, surveying the group gathered before him. "Well. Considering the news that Chervy brought, I suppose we ought to prepare ourselves for our guests."

…

With the change in plans, we all scurried inside and went into a whirlwind of preparations. The others did anyways. I had no idea where to put myself, and neither did I know their system well enough to work in it smoothly. So, I headed back to my room, closed the door and laid down to try and get some rest. I toss and turned a lot, but I finally relaxed and started drifting off.

It seemed only a nanosecond since closing my eyes that Peter was knocking on the door and muttering something about King Lune and his party were here.

"Ok, ok, I'm up. I'll be out in ten."

With a sigh, I pulled myself out of bed, splashed some water on my face, and straightened my clothes out before heading for the garden - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were already out there. The four of them were gathered in front of the fountain with Peter and Edmund on my right and Susan and Lucy on my left. Mr. Tumnus was standing next to Susan and Peridian next to Peter. Finally, Destrier and the great centaur Borious flanked the group.

They must have heard me, because Destrier motioned toward an empty spot between Aravis and Edmund. I guess it's proper order for a squire to stand next to the knight he's apprenticed to. There was a bout a twenty-second delay before we heard trumpets from outside the gates. Destrier and Borious nodded to the two Fauns by the gate and they nodded in reply before slowly but steadily opening the gate.

When the gates finally opened, I could see the two trumpeters up front, followed by some guards with King Lune, Cor, and Corin behind them. You could vaguely make out two or three more people behind them who I guessed were guards.

The Fauns saluted before announcing. "Presenting his Royal highness, King Lune of Archenland and his sons, the Princes Cor and Corin!"

The trumpeters gave another short spurt before the column moved forward. We moved forward too, the signal being a barely perceptible nod from Peter. The seven of us moved forward as one, meeting the Archenland party midway. Borious and Destrier and the Archenland heralds met up first, the Centaurs turning 90 degrees to face each other. The trumpeters took up one side each and the remaining two Archenland guards stopped for a moment to take King Lune, Cor, and Corrin's horses before taking their position next to the trumpeters. The Fauns had followed and took the horses, leading them around the group and back toward the stables.

King Lune and Edmund Embraced right away, great bear hugs exchanged. Aravis looked at Cor with just a hint of shyness. "Cor. It is good to see you."

Cor smiled back. "You too, Aravis."

Kin Lune turned to Susan and Lucy. "I trust you are well, dear friends?" They curtsied in reply, Susan simply saying "yes" and Lucy smiling as she replied. "Very well Calin. It's good to have you here.

I arched my eyebrows in surprise. "Hold the phone, I didn't know your first name was Calin!" King Lune chuckled. "Not many do, lad. I never liked Calin as I always preferred Lune. Mother had always called me Calin and after she passed, I simply couldn't bear to hear it and insisted I was to be called Lune from then on. I suppose it 'stuck' as you like to say.

"Apparently."

"Can we please stop chatting and rummage up some food? We haven't had much chance to eat and I am starving."

Cor elbowed his brother in the ribs. 'it's always food with this one. Why?"

Everyone chuckled and I rolled my eyes. "Because he's your brother, and brothers are impossible to understand to begin with."

Cor and Corrin smirked, and I heard Peter snort. "I understand my brother rather well, thank you very much!"

It was Edmund's turn to look indignant. "Well pardon me, but I would like to think there's a few things I still mystify you with.

Lucy sighed and looked over at me. "You just had to start something, didn't you?"

My jaw dropped and I harrumphed. "What! I didn't start anything; I just made an observation."

The smugness seeped through Susan's voice. "No, you were trying to be funny."

"Well, maybe. Just a bit."

"Ahem. Yes, well. In any event might I suggest my sons and I adjourn to our quarters to freshen up? Then, perhaps, we can help with any preparations that may be left.

Susan guffawed indignantly. "You shall do no such thing! You're our guest, are you not?"

King Lune chuckled. "As we are, dear lady."

"Hang on," Aravis interrupted, "where are Bree and Hwin? Did they not come?"

"Ay, that's the rub of it friends. I sent a servant out to let them know we were leaving early, and he replied that our friends wished to wait and leave a few hours or so later. Something about discussing an important matter."

Cor decided to toss his two cents in. "They said nothing to me too. I haven't the faintest idea why."

With that last comment, we turned and escorted everybody inside, random small talk peppering the walk. As it turned out, Bree and Hwin showed up about three hours later and managed to slip past the outer guards. Their entry was simple and discrete, with just Cor, Aravis, and Myself going down to greet them. The big news they had been so secretive about was their decision to settle in Archenland instead of Narnia like originally planned. King Lune was informed just before the tournament and preceded to make a formal announcement after they had returned to Anvard.

…

And so it went with Sir Dallir and Sir Nestagan. It was the same process of greetings and salutations with both before our new guests were shown to their quarters.

Sir Dallir had the thick and crusty accent of a sea captain as both his father and grandfather had been Captains, the former a merchant vessel and the latter a fishing trawler. Turns out his father had saved the Lone Islands governor on a hunting vacation in Archenland. Turns out the governor had planned on making him a knight, but upon pleading from Dallir's father and mother agreed that honor be passed to Dallir. Dallir eventually did become a Knight, trained by the Governor's brother and Knighted by both King Lune and Peter. The man's attitude could be described as jovial in a word. His upbringing had made him very common-sense and down-to-earth, full of good humor and yet formal when needed.

Dillar's squire was named Arin and was the Governor's nephew. I think he took after Peter the most, with Lucy's mirth and humor leaking out behind. He hit it off with Cor, Corrin, Aravis, and I almost immediately and we stayed stuck like glue whenever we could.

Sir Nestagan was in a phrase, curt and gritty. The man had much more of a ranger look and seemed to ready to descend into a knock-down drag-out with anyone who crossed the line. There was also a good bit of pride underneath everything. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it was that Telamrine pride that would both bite us and help us later.

But that's a different story.

By the end of the day, we were all wiped to the bone and ready to crash. Susan suggested we all turn in early and nobody disagreed, out of both respect and physical exhaustion.

As far as the overall plan for tomorrow, there would be a general meeting in the morning to make sure everyone had what they needed. Since both Corin and I were actually going to be in this shindig, we would be in the wings during the final day. I'm sure we were both looking forward to the tournament itself, to be sure, what we were definitely _NOT_ looking forward to was our scheduled sparring match.

… **.**

 **Well there you have it folks, another chapter down. On another note, I have F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D typing up the rest of the book and epilogue. That's right folks, book 1 is finished! Will work on getting the last two chapters of this and then there will probably be a few months gap while I finish out the plot for book two and get four or five chapters worth typed up before I start posting. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me this far and I can't wait to start getting book two out to you!**

 **Until then, Love of Dragons Out!**


	21. Tournament!

Chapter 20

 **And now we've finally arrived at the last big event of Jacob's first adventure in Narnia, the tournament! Let's see how everything goes!**

… **...**

The next morning dawned crisp and clear, the salt air wafting in. It gave me a nice few moments of serenity before my mind caught up to the present. Meetings, a tournament, and the sparring match between me and Cor.

This was going to be a long day.

With a groan, I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled over to the pitcher and washbasin, still half asleep as I splashed some water on my face.

"Arrgh!" I stretched my back, trying to get some of the stiffness out as I proceeded to get dressed and strap on my sword belt. With a final adjustment of the strap, I stepped out the door and closed it behind me.

A couple minutes worth of wandering brought me to the main hallway and almost plowing into Cor. He smirked at me for a second. "Looking forward to our little finallie, are we?"

I snorted in reply. "Yeah sure. A couple of junior novices go up against each other in front of _everybody_ staring at us. Oh yeah, loads of fun."

"Oh, come now, that's not until the last day, in the meantime you two can enjoy the show."

We turned around to see Destrier walking toward us, the soft clump of his hooves echoing on the stone. "And good morning to you too. You seem awfully perky."

"Perky?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, perky. As in cheerful, uplifted, happy, enthusiastic, you get the point."

Destrier grinned as Cor and I fell in with him, Cor on his left and me on his right. "Ah, I see. One of you phrases, isn't it?"

I just nodded as we came around the last turn and into the council room. All four of the Pevensies were already in the room along with Beardstead and King Lune. Peter saw me first, nodding his head for us to come in and clearing his throat. "About time you joined us. You're late." I could see the grin peeking out as Peter tried to keep a straight face, the High King obviously teasing us. "Late my foot! Y'all are early!"

Cor grinned, backing me up. "Yeah! What he said!" his brow furrowed a minute before he turned and looked at me. "That is how you say it, right?"

I couldn't help but shake my head. "Yeah man, that's how it goes."

"Well, well. I see we're off to our regular jesting already. You could at least wait until after breakfast"

We all looked up at Aravis's voice, Cor and I turning around to see Aravis, Peridian and Beardstead walk into the room as the dwarf spoke up. "That's well and true Lady Aravis, but it is these two we're discussing." Aravis just grinned devilishly. "Very true good dwarf."

"Hey!" Cor and I both squawked indignantly at the same time.

"Well, now that we have our comedy relief for the morning, I suggest we attend to a few matters." Edmund's chuckle brought our minds back to the matter at hand as we gathered around the table.

… **.**

Peter started leading the conversation, flowing into it with ease. "Now then. Destrier, you and Peridian are in charge of crowd control and giving the opening welcome respectively. We'll open the gates at noon and start at precisely three o'clock. Ed and I shall enter from the right while King Lune, Susan and Lu enter from the left of the platform. Cor, Corrin, you will enter with your father and Jacob will enter with Ed since he's Ed's squire. Peridian will announce the entry and then proceed to give the opening before I address the crowd. Ed, Susan, Lucy. That will be the time for you and King Lune to say any opening remarks you have."

Peter paused for a minute and I raised my hand, everybody's head turning to look at me. "Ok. So what, Cor, Corrin, and I just follow Ed and King Lune up and then what? We just stand there?"

King Lune chuckled. "Unfortunately, yes, my dear boy. Not the most enviable position to be sure."

"Great," I grumbled, "my legs are gonna end up like jelly when the day's over."

Lucy shook her head at me. "Oh, it won't be that bad." She nodded her head at Peter. "Do continue brother.

"Yes, well. After that will jousting for the rest of the day, Ed will give the closing remarks, and then we will adjourn for dinner and bed. Ed, you want to go over tomorrow."

Ed nodded. "Alright, tomorrow will start with a repeat of the opening remarks. King Lune, you'll be in charge of it that day." Lune nodded. "Good. Sir Dillar and Sir Nestagan will be the opening duel starting on horse back and hopefully ending up on foot. That will be followed by an archery contest presided over by Su and then we'll have three more bouts, Sir Dillar versus Peter and Sir Nestagan versus myself followed by a free-for-all with the four of us. Lu, you'll do the closing remarks tomorrow night and then the day after that we'll have opening remarks from Peridian again and finish everything off with Cor and Jacob's duel. Everyone in agreement?"

Head nods resounded around the group as the meeting broke up, everybody slowly filing out.

The next until the afternoon ticked seemed to fly by. Since Cor was technically squired to King Lune and I was squired to Edmund, we spent most of those few hours helping move final items around and armoring up.

That might not be the correct term though. Really about all we needed was chain mail with a decent surcoat over the top. That's what everyone else wore anyways. Since Cor and I were both squires, we didn't have mail, just doublets and our swords.

I don't know exactly where Aravis disappeared too, but considering she disappeared with Susan and Lucy right after the meeting, they were probably talking about dresses and whatever else girls talk about. Yeah, let's move on.

… **.**

We finally finished the last-minute preparations with just under an hour to spare when Peter and King Lune walked in as Cor and I finished doing one last check on our gear.

"Well then, is there a change you two could be ready by now?"

I jerked my head up at Peter's voice, hanging there slack jawed before giving my sword-belt a final tug as I grinned. "Yep! Locked and loaded." Ed shook his head as Peter and King Lune grinned.

"Your cocluolisms always have just enough humor."

"Thanks Pete. Now come on, let's get this over with."

King Lune guffawed. "Over? You lads haven't even started the first day!"

"Oh no, it's not that. The sooner we get out there, the sooner I'll be able to get off my legs."

"Ahh," said Edmund, "so we have your real motivation at last."

Cor elbowed me in the ribs before I could say anything. "Come on you, it'll be fun."

We started walking out the door and down the hall. "Oh sure. If you call fun standing there the hot sun like some life-size statue _fun._ "

Peter stroked his chin and grinned. "Well, we have to make our statues somehow, now don't we?"

The comment earned a laugh all around as we came out into the courtyard to mount up for the short trot to the stands.

The ride itself was uneventful. The only notable thing was when Susan, Lucy and Aravis came out. They looked _nice._ Really, _**really nice.**_ I did notice that Cor spent a solid minute staring at Aravis before I had to swat him over the head to knock him back to the present. The ladies clustered in a group at the head of the column, with Destrier taking the front guard and the rest of us grouping up behind them. Cor and I ended up trailing behind them with Mr. Tumnus, which was perfectly fine by us.

A couple minutes of riding brought up to the stands, Destrier as the column turned into one big cluster of people dismounting. Mr. Tumnus and Destrier took the reins of the horses, the rest of us nodding or saying thank you before the faun and centaur led the horses over to the stables to get them bedded down before the crowds. I did see Sir Gillan and Sir Nestigan in the distance, no doubt wanting to do the same thing with their mounts so they could focus on getting everything they would need set out and ready.

We stepped up on to the stage, Peter, Edmund, and King Lune helped the ladies up the stairs, their dress hems lifting just enough so the fabric wouldn't get caught underfoot. Cor and I took our places next to Edmund and King Lune. From left to right the lineup was Edmund, me, Lucy, Peter, Susan, Cor, and finally King Lune.

And then we waited, and waited, and waited. It _felt_ like forever, even though I'm sure it wasn't that long in reality. In any event, eventually people and talking beasts started filing in.

The stands themselves were divided into three sections. The two on each were wide stone tiers, each tier having grass for the floor with feeding troughs up front. The wings were obviously for the talking animals like deer, bears, etc. The middle section was for people with the usual benches and seating tiers, with the back three or four tiers being much shallower to serve the dwarfs, badgers, and all the smaller creatures. As for the right section, it was basically a mirror copy of the left. Birds, Owls, Hawks, and just about any of the talking animals that flew were perched on the long roof covering all three sections. The rest arena was normal with a walkway between the stands and a safety fence, and the large area in front of that to serve both the jousting and melee sessions. Finally, beyond that, was the platform we currently stood as we watched the people and talking animals filed in.

…

After about twenty minutes, everybody had assumed their spot in the stands, and Destrier clopped onto the stage stiff, but smoothly graceful steps

"Hear one, hear all! Presenting His Majesty, High King Peter The Magnificent – King Edmund The Just – Queen Susan The Gentle – and Queen Lucy The Valiant!"

Destrier paused for a moment to allow the crowd to shout or applaud their support. When it quieted down enough, Destrier continued introducing King Lune and then listing the visiting knights.

"Their Majesties are proud to welcome our guests from Archenland, King Lune along with his sons Cor and Corrin, and our visiting knights – Sir Nestagan and Sir Dillard!"

More polite applause rang out before Peter held his hand up to quiet everyone as he stood

"Friends, neighbors, A most hearty welcome! We have gathered here to see a display of feat with arms, and as such the festivities shall be accomplished over the period of three days. For today, however, we shall focus on the art of jousting.

"The rules are as follows. There shall be no intentional striking of the head, legs or horse. The goal is to unhorse your opponent and the appropriate are of striking shill be the breastplate or pauldrons. If one knight is unhorsed, then both combatants shall engage each other on the ground according to the rules of sparring.

"There shall be three bouts; the first Sir Nestagan and Sir Dillard; the second my brother Edmund and I; and the third between the victors of the first two bouts.

"Preceding the regular joust shall be a ring-joust, displaying the contestants aim and accuracy. Points will be one per ring and a full five if the contestant spears all eight."

There was a pause for a second before Peter continued. "Then without further interruptions, let the festivities begin!"

The crowd let out their various forms of applies, whether it be shouts, hoots, neighing, or whatever else.

As for the rest of the day, both Peter and Edmund managed to spear all eight rings in a row, with Sir Dillar taking six and Sir Nestagan right behind him at five. When it came to the proper jousting, Peter did manage to un-horse Edmund only to lose by a hair in the ground fight. Then again, Edmund was the superior swordsman for a reason.

Sir Nestagan and Sir Dillar was also close. Nestagan ended up being the superior jouster, landing two solid hits on the shoulder and one broken lance. When it came to their ground game, that was when it become more interesting. Since Dillar was from the coast, he preferred a war axe, mostly plate, and a kite shield. Sir Nestagan opted for mostly chain mail and leather, with a heater shield and a more traditional longsword and Knight's dagger combination. For the sake of the jousting though, he had plate from the waist up. It ended up a draw, Dillar landing an axe blow to Nestagan's neck with the flat, and Nestagan with a fake stab in the armpit and a false thrust to the neck.

By the time Sir Dillar and Sir Nestagan finished, Edmund and Peter had momentarily disspeared to a side tent and discreetly made it back on stage while the onlooker's eyes were glued on Nestagan and Dillar.

One the applause had died down and the numbers were tallied, Edmund stood to give the closing remarks, the crowd quieting to hear the king.

"Well done Sirs Dillar and Nestagan, and a hearty congratulations to my brother. The only thing you managed to wound was my pride." A few stray chuckles rang out from the crows and Susan before Edmund continued. "You all performed with admirability and chivalry. And to those in the stands, thanks you for coming and showing your support. It is our hope that this first day was superbly enjoyed and that tomorrow will be the same."

The crowd gave another rousing bout of applause before starting to fizzle out of the stands. There were a few that made small talk with the Pevensies, although most of the people that came up to chat wanted to talk to King Lune. It took about another forty minutes of waiting before the last conversion finished and we exited the stage opposite of the way we came on, Mr. Tumnus bringing the horses back and Destrier resuming his spot as we mounted up and made our way back to the castle, a few errant waves and head nods of greeting scattered along the way.

…

Supper was a large meal on the balcony outside the main dining hall. Actually, it was like a giant buffet, the food spread out on the table and plates stacked up and ready to go. Everybody was there, Including Peridian, Sir Dillar and Nestagan with their squires, Cor, Corrin, King Lune, Aravis, Beardstead, Grimsby, Mr. Tumnus and myself. We all just kind of mingled and chatted as the stress from the day washed away in the friendship and levity.

Sleeping arrangements did change just a hair though. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy had their separate rooms, obviously, while Sir Dillar and Sir Nestegan bunked with Peridian. King Lune had a room by himself, as did Aravis. Cor and Corrin were moved in with me, and Arin was bunking with Mr. Tumnus.

"Well now," Cor smirked, "what did you think of your first jousting match?"

Corrin gave his brother the squint-eye from the second bed that had been temporarily brought in. "You're one to talk. After all, you two have a duel to do."

Cor glared at his brother and I groaned. "Ok, I'm going to forget either of you went down that path. But to answer your question Cor, I thought it was great.

Corrin scrunched his brow in thought. "Hang on, do they even have jousting in your world?"

I laughed before rolling my eyes and answering. "Well, yes and no. Weaponry has had a thousand years to advance to the point that we don't need swords, pole arms, shields, and the like in combat. Everything's gotten a lot more advanced. And deadly. But there are a few groups out there who keep the old techniques up to preserve the memory and history. There are different groups for different areas, but it all falls under HEMA. Historical European Martial Arts."

"Okay, that makes sense. I guess."

"Whatever. I'm not up to explaining any of it tonight."

"Spoil sport"

I choose to ignore Cor's comment in favor of collapsing into bed, sleep cradling us in its loving embrace.

… **..**

Well friends, there you go, we're finally into the tournament. Next up, Cor and Jacob have there much awaited or much-dreaded duel, depending on who you ask. In any event, a huge shout-out to my latest follower. Very pleasant surprise, thank-you! That's all for now, Love of Dragons out!


	22. A Duel of The Squires

Chapter 21

…

The second day started out pretty much the same. Breakfast, a brief summary, and then the ride down to the stands before Edmund and Peter gave their opening remarks. Since there wasn't any jousting for the day that required plate armor, Nestagan and Dillar were in their regular armor combination.

It was utterly fascinating to watch the difference in combat techniques between a war ax and long sword. Because Sir Nestagan was using a longsword and Dillar didn't have a backup knife , Nestagan didn't really need the shield and actually had it setting to the side. Dillar had learned from the previous day and this time around went all out with the shield and managed to get a few good bashes in. Nestagan put up a tough fight, but in the end it was Dillar who took the round.

Once the match had died down, King Lune made some closing remarks and complimented both on their Chivalry, while Peter, Edmund, and I took the opportunity to slip off the stage. I could hear Susan welcome the archery contestants, but that was it as we were out of earshot.

The actual building where we met with Nestagan and Dillar was actually a combination stable and armoring area, the former on the left side and the latter on the right side of the building. Peter walked in first, followed by myself and then Edmund. Ed muttered as he walked in.

"Well now, seeing as Peter doesn't have a squire, you're going to have to help both of us for this."

"I for one, see no problem with that."

We craned our heads around to see Destrier walk up and Peter grinned at him. "And perhaps you have any thoughts?"

Destrier inclined his head to both Edmund and Peter. "Unfortunately, not your majesty. I just wished to confer that everything is going well."

"I cannot speak for Their Majesties, but I have seen no problems thus far."

We swiveled our heads to see Sir Nestagan walk in, followed by Sir Dillar and their squires behind them.

"Well, guess that's all she wrote folks!"

The comment did nothing to change Nestagan's expression, Dillar and Edmund rolling their eyes while Peter snorted.

"Oh come now, that was at least somewhat amusing!" Dillar's voice shifted in volume as he moved up into the circle, his squire Arin next to him. Destrier quietly backed up, settling himself just outside of the group.

Peter cleared his throat as he tried to steer the conversation somewhat back on track. "In any event gentlemen, we are here to go over the order of our upcoming melee competitions. It won't take the archery competition very long, so I suggest we get to it"

"The stop with the introduction and move on brother," Edmund smirked, Peter, arching an eyebrow before going back to his speech. "We'll have three bouts, one with myself and Sir Dillar and the second being Sir Nestagan and Edmund and Sir Dillar. Finally, the winners of the first two shall be the contestants for the final bout. King Lune will be in charge and we'll have Jacob and Arin standing by to supply us with whatever we need."

Peter was momentarily interrupted by a round of applause from outside, causing Destrier to glance to the door as Mr. Tumnus walked in. "Queen Susan is nearly finished."

"Thank-you good faun."

Mr. Tumnus nodded his head to Nestegan's reply as he turned and walked out.

"Any questions?" Peter looked around the group, seeing no reply. "I suggest we finish our preparations.

… **.**

The next half hour and the remaining time for the archery contest were taken up with Arin and I helping the others armor up. We finished just in time, covertly taking our spot neck to the platform, walking out as Destrier announced us. Nestagan and Dillar came out first with Arin in between, while I took my determined posistion in front of Peter and Edmund. I clutched the Narnian herald in my right while holding Peter and Edmund's shields by the straps with my left. Our group split off into the assigned pairs, Arin and I handing gear over before taking a position on the sidelines.

I'll leave the duels themselves to your imagination, but suffice it to say, I momentarily forgot about the weight of the chainmail and sword as I stood raptured. Peter and Edmund's skill was on full display and it was amazing.

If someone had told me I'd be at that level and beyond in just a few months, I never would have believed them. Now, after everything I've been through, that seems so long ago. But back to the story.

After the duels, Arin and I did the opposite of the procedure at the beginning, heading back to the armoring room for Peter, Edmund, Dillar, and Nestegan to de-armor and change. We then made our way back onto the stage. Peter and Edmund made a few closing remarks after Susan to close the day's festivities out. We headed back to the castle the same as the previous night and had supper on the balcony again.

The reality of what was coming tomorrow was starting to settle in pretty strong though, and the knot was slowly growing in my stomach. Peridian must have noticed because he caught my attention as we finished supper.

"What bothers you, friend?"

"Nervousness. About tomorrow. Just…how do you prepare for that? I mean, it's one thing to do it in practice, but it's another to do it in front of all those people."

Peridian said nothing, just stood there in thought for a minute. "Well, I'm sure Peter has given you some advice. No?"

I nodded. "Yeah, a couple of days ago when we were doing some practice."

"Well then, the first thing I would say is to take his advice to heart. And second, the more you practice, the easier time you'll have. I suspect there haven't been many opportunities during the recent festivities."

I harrumphed. "No. Pretty much No."

Peridian smirked. "Well then, I'd suggest you cure some of that stress inoculation by practicing with the person you will be facing. I'm sure I could convince the others to stand in for the crowd. Beyond that, I don't know what else we could do."

…

And that was what happened. In relatively short order, Cor and I were out in the training yard, armed with the blunted steel practice blades we would use tomorrow as well as our chainmail and gambeson underneath.

Most of the people I had become friends with were there. All four of the Pevensies as well as Destrier, Peridian, Beardstead and Grimsby, and King Lune and Aravis.

Cor and I stood there facing each other, Cor in a high ready and myself in a low-right ready. The advice Peter had given me popped into my head and I closed my eyes and forces myself to breathe, telling myself to just go move-by-move, stroke-by-stroke.

Then I heard Grimsby shout "start" off to my side and Cor swung. It was on.

I brought my blade up and twisted into a spin, Cor's blade glancing off of mine as I swung back around and swiped at his neck with my flat. Cor spun, blocking before letting my blade slide as he twisted his wrist and stabbed at my chest. I brought my blade back toward, parallel to Cor's blade as we both started rotating our blades edge for a dominant position. I finally managed to make an opening, closing the gap between us, holding the grip with my right hand and bracing the blade with my shoulder pauldron. My left fist went for two light punches to his side before twisting my blade over and landing the flat square against his neck.

I stood there panting still slightly zoned out. Then the realization hit me that I had completely forgotten about everyone else around me, the only thing in my world now was Cor and I's practice duel.

Everybody stood there for a minute. And then Cor started chuckling before it developed into a full laugh. "Lion alive, that was amazing!" Suddenly, King Lune started clapping. The applause was taken up by Grimsby, then Destrier before Peter, Edmund, and Peridian joined in. "Very well done lad," King Lune said, "that was one of the finest displays of a squire's swordsmanship I've seen. My son will have some stiff competition tomorrow."

Edmund, Peter, and Peridian just stood there smirking. "Well done indeed," Peter chuckled, "that was extremely impressive."

More "well done" and "good lad" comments echoed, but I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about what I had managed to pull off.

In all actuality, I've never stopped doing that since, the trick is the one thing that calms me down and allows everything else to melt away in the face anything, whether it be supervillains like Loki or Megatron, monsters like Smaug or Azog, or the insane events like fighting Ultron on a floating city.

I know one thing, winning that practice duel put most of my nervousness at rest.

Cor and I went for two more rounds, myself winning the next one and Cor taking the final. Darkness had started falling by then, so we decided to call it a night and get some sleep.

There was a tad of tossing and turning, but that wasn't bad. Soon enough Cor was shaking me awake the next day.

… **.**

"Leave me alone Cor. I was having a pretty nice dream."

"Sorry man, can't do that. I've already let you sleep in an extra half hour."

With a tired groan, I heaved myself out of bed, rubbing my eyes before rushing to get my gear on and scarf down some breakfast that had been kept warm for me.

It was the same procedure down to the stands, everybody taking their place and Peridian giving the closing remarks. Fortunately for my nerves, the stands were somewhat less populated. Thank goodness. Peridian droned on for a few minutes, neither Cor or I paying that much attention, our minds rushing through everything we've learned so far my mind doing the best to calm itself down.

Peridian finally finished, almost too soon, and Cor and I took our position in the ring with Peridian following as the referee. Cor and I took the same stances as yesterday and I slowed my breathing, trying to do the same I did yesterday. There was a moment of calm everything tuned out.

And then I opened my eyes, heard Peridian shout "Start" and went at it.

Cor came down from his high ready stance, but this time I stepped to my left and twisted, blocking Cor's blade and then stepping forward and twisting as I swiped at his abdomen. Cor threw his hips out to avoid the blade before swinging at me as I went into a vertical block over my right shoulder. I let Cor's blade bounce off as I turned and pushed in toward before going to a half-sword grip and tapping Cor in the armpit with my pommel. Cor twisted back as I ducked under his swing before doing a fake lunge for his abdomen.

Everything stopped all of a sudden and I heard Peridian shout "hold" as a cheer went up from the crowd. I had won the round. In front of all those spectators, I had won.

That was definitely the high point of the day because Cor beat me the next round. Peter called a halt after that and Edmund made the closing remarks before we headed back to the castle.

Dinner that night was very merry. Compliments and jokes were flying everywhere and I was pleasantly surprised to get more than a few "good jobs" from people, even Nestagan.

Speaking of Nestagan, he left the next morning along with Dillar and Arin. I didn't know it at the time, but fortunately, I would see them on another adventure down the road. Once they had started on the road, I headed out to the large pasture by the jousting field to see Hwin and Bree. It felt like it had been ages, so when Bree looked he let out a whinny of joy before shouting "Jacob" and trotting over.

…

I laughed as Bree came up and nudged me in the chest. "Oomph. Okay man, good to see you too. I hear you're settling in Archenland instead of up here. What changed your mind?"

Hwin spoke up before Bree could, walking over to the fence with a leisurely canter. "What happened was that we both realized we need to become accustomed to too many things to jump in just yet."

"Humph," I grunted, "I suppose that's a good reason.

Bree cracked a grin. Or as much of one as he could anyway. "And you, 'Squire Jacob', what about your promotion?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh geese man, I've had so many 'congratulations' and 'well-done's' it's been crazy. It's still just slightly surreal, but I think winning the practice session the night before Cor and I's duel helped. And then I turned around and won the first bout in our duel. I guess it's finally starting to sink in."

"Well it should, you certainly deserve it."

"Aravis!"

"Hwin!"

Aravis walked up to the fence and reached over to grab Hwin in a bearhug.

Bree smirked. "That's not very ladylike you know."

Aravis glared at the former warhorse. "Oh bother, I don't care."

We all had a good laugh at that.

"I see we all are getting along well."

"Lady Aravis, Their Majesties request your presence."

Aravis and I craned our necks around to see Destrier approaching as Aravis curtsied and I nodded my head in acknowledgment.

"Go on," I motioned, "there was something I wanted to tell Bree and Hwin."

"I shall see you later then, good squire."

"Oh ha-ha. Go on, will you."

Aravis smirked at me before walking off after Destrier.

My mind was silent for a moment, contemplating what I wanted to say. Bree and Hwin had been such good friends to me. True, we had parted ways at Tashbaan, but they had promised to help me get home. And albeit unintentionally, they had. We didn't plan on getting split up in Tashbann only for me to go through a midnight flight and battle. We didn't plan on any of that, but it had brought me to the Hermit. And it had also put me in the right time and place to hear a reassurance I desperately needed. But how to express it.

"Look you two, thanks for everything. If we hadn't been separated in Tashbann, I never would have had to come back to the Hermit with Cor. Everything had been ripped out from my feet, I didn't know which way was up. Something that I thought was impossible suddenly slapped me in the face. But I needed it. The reason the Hermit called me over was to give me a message from Aslan. I wouldn't have been able to make it through everything so far without that advice. And if I hadn't gone through what I did, it wouldn't have had any impact. I guess what I'm trying to say is thank-you that we were separated. Thank-you that you put me in a position where I had to face what I thought was the end. When I first showed up here, all I wanted to do was get home. But now I have the peace to wait a while if that's what it takes."

Bree and Hwin said nothing for a few minutes, the serendipity sinking in.

Bree spoke first. "Well then, I am heartily glad we accomplished our goal, though it is in a way none of us intended. I suppose I should thank you for showing me the same thing really. I had everything pulled out from under me in a way to. I had built up an expectation of what Archenland and Narnia would be like. And then to find it completely opposite. Well, I suppose I should have known better than to go by the Calormene stories about Narnia"

Bree and I stared at each other, understanding moving across our faces. We had each made the other stronger in our own way without realizing it, and in doing so had made a lifelong friend.

Hwin echoed pretty much the same thing Bree had said, an understanding passing between both of us as well. By that point, the sun was starting to fade over the horizon and I was due for another training session with Peter and Edmund. Bree and Hwin Came to watch along with Aravis and King lune, all four of them cheering us on. Supper followed after that along with a rather late night of celebration. With all the festivities over, King Lune, Cor, Corrin, Aravis, and the horses all left for Anvard the next morning. I had been looking for a chance to tell Cor and Aravis how much I appreciated their friendship during this crazy adventure. The chance didn't come to me all that evening or after dinner like I had hoped. As it would turn out, my luck brake would come tomorrow.

…

 **Well there we go folks, another Chapter update in the books. Update FYI, the plot to the next book is about a third done, far enough in for me to start typing. That was actually what I was going to start on when I realized that I had never gotten around to posting the last two chapters and epilogue for this!**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed as always, and stay tuned!**


	23. As One Journey Ends, So Another Begins

Chapter 22

The 'lucky break' I had been looking for came the next morning. Aravis had mentioned at supper the previous night that she was heading out to the garden in the morning. I knew morning training would come right after breakfast and Aravis's departure along with the others immediately after that. So, I somehow managed to drag my tired body out of bed, throw my jeans, t-shirt, and boots on, and head out toward the garden. I managed to make it down without too many people seeing me and found Aravis sitting on one of the benches.

 _Knock, knock_

I rapped my knuckles on my scabbard since I didn't have a doorframe handy. Aravis jumped just a tad before turning and staring me down with a squint-eye. "Is this how you greet your friends in the morning?"

"Sorry," I grimaced, "didn't mean to scare you that bad. I came out cause I wanted to talk to you a minute before you guys leave today."

"And that would be…?"

"Well, thank-you mainly. Thanks to both you and Cor actually for all the help you guys have given me and just letting me rant sometimes."

"Well, 'no prob' as you put it. That's what friends are for, right."

I smiled and nodded. "Yep. Very good friends, right?"

Aravis winked at me. "Right."

"Good. Do you know where Cor went? I was hoping to catch both of you?"

"I don't see how that matters, considering I'm here now."

Aravis and I turned to face Cor, Aravis standing up and curtsying while I just inclined my head. Cor sighed and rolled his eyes. "None of that this early. Please."

I snorted in amusement before cor arched his eyebrow at me before he continued. "Anyways, what was it you wanted to talk to us about. Or I guess that would be me now, considering you were already talking to Aravis."

"I just wanted to tell you guys thank you for all the help you two have given me and specifically you Cor for charging into battle with. That was really bonehead stupid on both our parts."

Cor grimaced. "Indeed. But hey, at least we did it together. I would not have preferred it any other way."

"Neither would I man, neither would I."

"Oh, come here and give me a hug."

Just as we finished, Destrier came to find me informing us that breakfast was served. The meal was fantastic as usual, even if the mood was just slightly dampened. But, I reckon the impending departure of good friends will do that to you. Training that morning was quiet, with just Peridian and I since the Pevensies were helping King Lune and the others round everything up for the return trip to Anvard.

…

The departure was quiet, conversation and hugs exchanged in the apple orchard before the column left for Anvard. For this adventure at least, that would turn out to be the last time I saw them.

Cair Paravel did feel just a tiny bit emptier without them, but that was remedied in short order as everything settled back down to normal. Edmund would handle most disputes, leaving the ones he couldn't solve or the major decisions to Peter or Susan. Lucy was simply bubbling over with joy and spent most of her time helping wherever she could.

As for me, I followed Edmund most of the time since I was his squire. Otherwise, I just drifted here and there, helping people where I could. I kept at the training to, now with the help of all four Pevensies and Peridian. Suffice it to say, it became evident after a couple near misses that I was much better with blades than polearms or archery. By the time a week had passed, we felt comfortable enough that we could start to branch out and expanded my training to seriously start studying horseback-mounted dueling.

Riding a horse is one thing. Using melee weapons while mounted is quite another.

All in all, it was a month and a half.

… **.**

What I didn't know at the time was that this adventure was coming to an end and the Pevensies along with myself were about to end up in yet _another_ dimension. As to how it actually happened, Peter and I were the first to go. Peter, Edmund and I were out on yet another hunting trip. Edmund had split off from the two of us to try and flank the deer we were after while Peter and I would take position behind and push it toward Edmund. We were creeping through the woods when I stepped on a twig that snapped under my feet.

Deja-vu much?

The next moment we heard a thump and growl behind us only to turn around see a huge grizzly about 60 yards behind.

"What in the world," asked a confused Peter. The bear glared at us for a minute and then, with a heart-pounding bellow, he charged. Peter just gazed perplexedly before I grabbed his arm and jerked. "What are you waiting for! Come on!"

"But surely the good bear is just confused?"

"We can't find out if we're _DEAD!"_

So we ran, weaving through the trees as fast as we could, the grizzly slowly but surely closing the gap between us.

 _Whoosh!_

Three arrows whizzed by us and found their target, a moan and low thump signaling that the bear was down.

Peter and I finally stopped running, both of us out of breath. Footsteps sounded closer and closer, Peter muttering his thanks as he tried to catch his breath.

"Susan! Thank the lion you showed up!"

I tapped Peter on the shoulder. "Uh, dude, I think you better look before you speak."

Peter finally caught his breath and straightened up, only for his eyes to go wide. "You're not Susan."

"No, indeed I'm not," the man chuckled. "Burin, the finest woodsman in Zeron at your service."

Peter arched his brow. "Zeron? I am aware there are countries south of Calormene, but it has been ages since Narnia and the lands north of Calormene have had had any contact. What brings you this far north friend?"

Now it was Burin's turn to look confused. "Begging your pardon sir, for you look of wealth and stature, but I have never heard of Narnia nor Calormene. You are in the land of Zeron, particularly the woods by the eastern border. The Southern Sea is but 20 miles south and to the west the plains and then our capital, Waterfall City. Perhaps a good night's rest would help."

Peter stared, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. "Yes. My apologies friend, we are most likely exhausted and fatigued. Some sleep and planning in the morning would do us good."

"Very well good sir, I'll take you into town and get you a room at the inn. Owner's a lifelong friend of mine, he'll treat you well. Might I have your names though?"

"Certainly. I am Sir Peter Wolfsbane, Lord of the Lone Islands, and this is my brother's squire, Jacob."

Burin's eyes widened. "Apologies My Lord, I did not know."

"Quite alright Burin. But please, call us Peter and Jacob."

Burin just nodded, and with the birds starting to chirp again, the three of us walked off, Peter and I unknowingly at the start of an adventure filled with spies, intrigue, and dragons.

…

Back in Narnia, Edmund waited with growing confusion as the deer ran by without Peter or Jacob following. After giving it another half hour, he went back to the horses to find out if they had seen them. With deepening worry, the horses answered no and the three of them split up to search in three different directions. When another hour and a half of searching turned up nothing, Edmund made the call to rush back to Cair Paravel and raise the alarm.

Destrier was standing guard at the gates when Edmund and the horses bolted by.

"My Lord…!" Destrier turned to the faun that was guarding the drawbridge with him. "Put the guards on the battlements. Something must be amiss for His Majesty come back in such a hurry."

The faun nodded and scurried up to the battlements while Destrier turned to rush inside after Edmund, who was just de-mounting. Destrier trotted up to him, but before he could say anything, Edmund turned, the worry evident across his face. "With me Destrier, we must speak to Susan in the council room at once." Destrier nodded, trotting to keep up as Edmund rapidly walked toward the council chambers. Susan was already having been walking by when the faun Edmund had sent ahead from the courtyard brought the news.

Susan whirled around, hand going to her mouth when she saw the worry on Edmund's face. "Edmund, Destrier! Whatever is the matter!"

Edmund frowned. "I can't find Peter or Jacob."

Susan glared, thinking it he had overblown the situation. "Edmund, you were in the middle of the woods on a hunting trip where you're supposed to be quiet, of course, you couldn't find them."

"Susan, I gave it an extra half-hour and then the horses and I looked for another hour. I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong, ominous."

"That is a bit odd," Susan admitted. "Destrier, take a few troops with my brother and canvas the area again. Surely they couldn't have gotten too far."

"Right away Your Majesty."

Destrier and Edmund turned and scurried out, Destrier rounding up a few fauns before the small party rode out of Cair Paravel and back to the spot. They searched for two hours until it started to go dark. Destrier was starting to worry as well at this point, having no choice but to call the search off and regroup. They would need torches to look at night, but first, they had to let Susan know.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." Susan was pacing up and down the council chamber as Edmund fidgeted where he stood, anxious to resume searching. "Su, I want to go back out there as much as you, but we would need a much larger group and many torches. I'm sure the people are already worried, and we don't need to be adding to their panic."

"Oh, bother it all! You're right, Ed, we have no choice but to wait. That doesn't mean we can't be prepared though. Do what you need to do, we'll leave first thing in the morning."

"Right. Destrier, we have preparations to make."

Edmund and Susan filled Lucy in on what was happening later that night and to say she was dismayed would have been an understatement. But for the time being, she understood why it needed to be kept quiet.

It was a restless night for all three of them. But eventually morning did come around and the small search party went out, Destrier leading, followed by Edmund and Susan and the three satyrs bringing up the rear.

The search, of course, turned out fruitless. Susan's world though was about to go from bad to worse. The party had met back up after finding nothing. Susan may have been a queen, but at this point, she was on the verge of breaking into tears. They were just on the edge of the clearing when Edmund walked around a tree in front of her and for a second, her line of sight was completely obscured. When she came around the corner, Edmund was gone.

Vanished, disappeared into thin air.

And Susan's queenly disposition cracked.

She stared, her eye twitching before she let out one long wail.

"Edmund!"

Susan no longer cared about queenly behaviors, or how queens should not run. All she wanted was her brothers and Jacob back home and safe.

"Your Majesty!"

Destrier galloped up, the others hurrying to keep pace. When Destrier saw her face, he instantly guessed what was wrong, his eyes and mouth going wide from the shock.

…

And it was with that devastating event that Aslan appeared.

It was subtle at first, the satyrs noticing him one by one, each too much in awe to say or do anything other than stand their trembling. When Destrier saw him, the centaur stumbled and drew a ragged breath.

"Aslan," he whispered.

It took a moment for Susan to register what Destrier had said and the warmth that suddenly washed over her. But the moment she did, she turned around and enveloped him in a hug, burying her head in his thick mane.

"Take heart, dear ones, for all is not lost. And the rest of you, stand up! Praise should not be directed to me, but The Most High."

"Aslan, what of my brothers?"

"They are safe for now. The Lord has sent them to a different realm, not Earth and not Narnia, though the purpose has not been revealed to me."

"For now? Then they are in danger?"

"They will _encounter_ many dangers, but if they stay true, they will come home, your brothers to Narnia and Jacob to Earth. In the meantime, tell none other than your sister of this and prepare yourselves, for you both shall join them at appropriate times."

"What! But why?"

"I tell none any story other than what the Father allows. But know this, you all have roles to fulfill there. And all of them are vital to the future of that world. Take heart and stay true. You and your sister will join them at the appropriate time. Meanwhile, prepare."

Susan stared at Aslan, wiping the few tears away and closing her eyes in reconciliation. She let out a long sigh before looking at Aslan and nodding.

Aslan smiled, filling all of them with warmth and in the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving the small party alone.

With nothing more to do, the party headed back home, Susan's mind jumping between how to tell Lucy and what story to tell the people. Lucy was full of both elation and repedation when she heard what had happened, the two royal sisters resigning to themselves to wait as long as needed.

The two did end up in Zeron, Susan that very night, during a late stroll in the garden and Lucy the next morning. Both had been restless all night, and as such never went to bed. When they did arrive in Zeron, both showed up in separate places. The same thing had happened to Edmund, with him arriving in a completely separate part of Zeron from Peter and me.

My journey in Narnia, for this trip anyway, was finished.

Peter and the others did eventually come back to Narnia and myself to Earth. Zeron would turn out to be amazing, and all five of us would be challenged in ways never thought and see some things that shouldn't have been possible.

But that's a story for another time.


	24. Eplouge

Epilogue

And here we are, at the end of one journey and the beginning of another. I still didn't process everything until after I had finally returned home from Zeron. My parents didn't know what to think. I came back changed. A little darker and cynical. I still didn't have any answers for a lot of stuff, and some of those answers would take many adventures and trials to finally come to a conclusion in my mind. Regardless, I did know one thing. The God I thought I knew had been totally shattered. If he had the power to speak reality into existence, how do you reconcile the cross with another dimension out there? My eyes had been opened, and after this adventure, my emotions were, in a word, confused.

Narnia would prosper for another 60 years under the Pevencies before they eventually ended up back in England in the 1940s. I would make another four trips back. Those trips remain my strongest memories, and with a few exceptions, those people remain the truest friends I've ever known. Narnia and her people have become a sacred place, a holy place to me. I left a part of myself there.

But I also gained something. The start of understanding what it means to be a warrior, and through that a realization that my abilities are neither a blessing or a curse. They're simply a tool. Of course, I wouldn't gain said abilities for another two adventures, but in looking back, this is where the foundation for using those abilities starts.

This was the beginning of my origin story.

This…

Is…

Narnia.


End file.
